


Like Lullabies, You are forever in my Mind

by possiblywonderful



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Ice Cream Parlor, Baking, Birthday Party, Bookstores, Daddy!Derek, Domestic, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Food, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kid!Scott, M/M, Misunderstandings, Phone Calls & Telephones, Sharing Clothes, Shop Owner Stiles, Slow Build, Talk About Coming Out, Texting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-13
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-19 04:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 47,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1454590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possiblywonderful/pseuds/possiblywonderful
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To be honest, Derek’s words from last Tuesday are still echoing through his ears every three to four minutes.</p><p>Stiles had asked him if it’s okay for Derek to take a cone instead of his usual cup that day as they were out of cups because the delivery has been delayed. Apparently, the one warehouse where all the ice cream cups for the northern Californian area were being stored had a leakage. Luckily, the paper cups soaked up most of the water which, yay for the warehouse owner. But not so yay for all the ice cream shops in the area.</p><p>Derek said it would be fine, though and when Stiles offered him the tiny plastic spoon, Derek had said he would go without a spoon too. He liked licking things.</p><p>Stiles nearly choked on his spit. And Derek, that fucker, totally saw it and did nothing but happily smile to himself while licking at his scoop of ice cream.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very belated birthday present for my dear Robi that was supposed to be a drabble which now turned into a multi-chaptered fic but isn't that what always happens to me.
> 
> Title taken from Yuna's 'Like Lullabies'.
> 
> The Rating will go up in following chapters.

“One scoop of peppermint and one scoop of vanilla,“ a gruff voice says, making Stiles turn around.

He’s met with the sight of one of the top five, all time most handsome men he’s seen in person. Dark hair, drop-dead gorgeous face, tall and well-built, sexy stubble and a Henley that should not even be sold to people like him because it’s for sure causing public disturbances. Like Stiles standing around, gaping at his customers.

“Uh, sorry. For the staring I mean,” he rushes to apologise when he’s finally able shake himself out of his haze which must’ve lasted at least five seconds longer than it should’ve. “You want your ice cream in a waffle or a cup,” Stiles asks while he’s fishing the scoop out of its water container.

The guy averts his gaze and looks down at something Stiles can’t see because it’s hidden by parts of the counter and a pile of small gift boxes standing on said counter. He’s about to just pick something for him when the guy asks “waffle or cup?” downwards towards… the floor? Probably not. So Stiles leans forward as far as he can so he’s able to look around the boxes and, indeed, there’s a small boy maybe around the age of six who’s looking up at Stiles intently.

“Hey there, young man. So, I assume the ice cream’s for you then.” Stiles smiles down at the kid.

“I’m getting the vanilla one, I don’t even like peppermint. It makes my tongue all cold even when it’s not ice cream,“ the boy states matter-of-factly.

“It does, doesn’t it? And well, vanilla _is_ one the best kinds of ice cream you can get. It’s a good choice,“ Stiles grins down. “So, waffle or cup?”

“Waffle, please.” And if that’s not the cutest little shy yet polite smile he’s ever seen, well then Stiles doesn’t know.

“Alright,“ he grins and gets up again. “What about you? Waffle too,” he asks the guy in front of him.

“Cup,“ the guy just answers.

“Okay.” Stiles gets a waffle from the side, scoops one perfectly round ball of vanilla ice cream and places it on top of the waffle. “I see, you’re a man of few words. Very efficient,” Stiles grins, throwing a glance towards tall and handsome before looking at the little boy again. “Is your dad always this talkative,” Stiles asks when he leans forward again to hand him the ice cream.

The boy giggles and takes the waffle. “No, he usually talks more.”

“Oh, maybe he’s shy around strangers,” Stiles says and winks at the boy which makes him giggle again.

The guy just looks at Stiles with an expression that’s close to indifference but there’s also a small hint of amusement. “What if I’m just not allowed to talk to strangers,“ he asks.

“Well, then you’ve already broken that rule. Twice. Naughty boy,“ Stiles smirks, fully aware of the ambiguity of his statement. He’s definitely not one to miss the chance for a snarky remark and if it’s a snarky ambiguous remark, it’s even better. He’s never been shy around other people and it doesn’t really make a difference if he’s attracted to them or not. It’s just the way he is and if they like it that’s cool and if they don’t that’s also cool.

Just before he grabs the scoop to clean it in the water container, Stiles is looking up for a short second after he made that comment and wow, yeah, that’s one deep look the guy is giving him. But he’s not sure if he’s trying to convey a very angry _what did you just say in front of my kid_ or a _let me show you naughty_. Stiles would definitely favour option number two.

“And here we go,” Stiles says, handing the guy the cup with his ice cream, hoping that he’ll at least get some kind of remark for what he just said. “That’ll be four fifty, please.”

But the guy just nods, reaches into his back pocket with his free hand in an insanely sexy turn of his body and gets out his wallet, flipping it open with one hand and resting it on his hip while he gets out a five dollar bill.

“You know, you could’ve put the cup down again for that,” Stiles says.

“No need. I’m talented with my hands,” the guy smirks, handing him the five dollar bill and honest to god winks.

Stiles on the other hand is not sure if he should answer in a more or less normal fashion, let out a happy cheer because the guy actually answered with a witty remark and flipping winked or if he should just stand here, staring while his imagination rides off on a unicorn over a rainbow towards hornyland.

“I appreciate people who know what they’re doing,” Stiles grins widely before adding a “Thanks”, shoots the guy a smirk in return and takes the bill and walks towards the register to get the change.

“Keep it,“ the guy says.

“Thanks,” Stiles answers yet again, turning around to smile at him.

“You’re welcome.”

“Daddy, my ice cream’s melting. Can we leave and go to the park now?” The little boy’s voice comes up from behind the counter.

“You can start eating already, Scott. You don’t have to wait,” the guy says, ruffling through his kid’s hair. He’s met with an excited “Yay!” that makes him smile fondly which, in return, makes Stiles get weak in the knees. Yeah, he’s definitely further gone on this guy than he’d like to be.

“Have fun in the park,” Stiles tells Scott, leaning forward again. “Hope to see you again soon!”

Scott, already waiting by the door, waves at him excitedly, licking at his ice cream. Stiles waves back at Scott and is about to turn away when an easy “Bye, Stiles” resounds.

It catches him off guard, making him look up dumbfounded. The guy’s still standing at the door, looking back at Stiles with a smile on his lips alongside an unreadable expression.

“Uh, yeah. Bye urm… what did you say was your name again?”

“I didn’t say anything about it,“ the guy replies and Stiles is about to make a sarcastic remark on that comment when the guy speaks up again. “It’s Derek.”

“Derek,” Stiles says, trying out the way Derek’s name feels on his lips. “It’s nice to meet you. I hope you’ll drop by again.” They look at each other for a few seconds before Derek’s giving in to Scott who’s been tugging at the end of Derek’s shirt for a while now.

“We will,“ he simply says, sending Stiles another smile before they leave.

Stiles on the other hand just knocks his head on the counter because _screwed_ doesn’t even begin to describe the situation he’s in now. Stiles is thanking all the higher entities out there that there was no one else inside the shop that could’ve witnessed this encounter. Except for Isaac who’s at the back of the shop making the labels for tonight’s delivery. Stiles hears him chuckle to himself though. “Smooth, Stiles. Very smooth.”

“Shut up, Mr I’m-too-scared-to-ask-Allison-out-for-over-a-year-now,“ Stiles retorts, mumbling into the countertop.

Isaac almost drops the box of waffles.

 

~*~

 

The next time he sees Derek is a few days later in the shop again. Scott’s with him too. Derek nods as a greeting, sporting a smile when he picks up Scott, resting him on his hips.

“Hey there,“ Stiles sends a wide smile Scott’s way first and then a more placid one towards Derek. “What would you like to order today, Sir?” Stiles puts on his playfully earnest salesmen voice for Scott and it actually makes the little boy grin in excitement as if this actually were an honest business chat.

“One scoop of chocolate and one scoop of peppermint please,“ he says politely while he points at the two flavours in the counter.

“Coming right up, Sir,” Stiles cheers, grabbing the scoop and whipping it through the air. Scott cackles at that in sheer delight and even though he may try to make it not as obvious, a smile is tugging at Derek’s lips too. “So, beautiful day today, isn’t it,” Stiles says to pass by some time while he scoops up the ice cream.

“Yes! We were at the water park today and I was on the big slide two times,“ Scott exclaims with the excitement a boy his age just has when he gets to slide down one of those humongous slides. Stiles was the same but it’s not like it changed since then.

“That’s awesome! It’s one of the best slides they have at the waterpark, right? And you’re pretty brave for going on the big slide two times,” Stiles answers because it really is one of the best slides he’s been on so far but also one of the creepiest.

Scott hesitates a little at that, lowering his gaze before he looks at Derek first and then back to Stiles. “I didn’t go alone. Dad was with me because I was a little bit scared and the people there said I was too small to go on my own.”

“Same for me. I still think you’re brave for going. I was scared too when I slid for the first time and I was 22 at that time.”

“But you’re a grown-up. Why are you scared of going down that slide when you’re not even too small,“ Scott asks curiously and maybe even a bit incredulous.

“Cause grown-ups can be scared of all kinds of things too. Like going down slides like that. It’s a mixture of being scared and really excited, I guess. But being scared is not a bad thing. It’s a good thing actually because fear tells you when something is not right and it’s a warning sign for you so you can get yourself to a safe place when it’s necessary or you can fight what’s scaring you.” Stiles puts the chocolate scoop on top of the waffle and holds it out to Scott but the little boy is still looking at him as if Stiles just opened the box of Pandora.

When he looks up a little, Derek smiles at him in a quiet way as if he’s content with the talk his son and Stiles are having (if you can still consider it a talk since Scott’s still just gaping Stiles). Derek nudges his son a little, snapping him out of his state.

“Your ice cream’s waiting,“ Derek says, smiling at Scott with this very special kind of smile that seems to be reserved for his son only. When he realizes what he gets to see, this upmost private moment, Stiles feels a feeling of sheer gratitude rise in his chest.

“There you go,” he says when Scott’s taking the cone from his hand, uttering a polite thank you again. Yes, Stiles loves children a lot, wants kids of his own one day and usually gets along with them great from the very start but this boy managed to sneak his way into Stiles’ heart after their second meeting only.

He sends another big smile towards Scott, winking at him, before he grabs a cup and holds it up for Derek to see. “Cup again?”

“Yes, please“ Derek says, letting Scott down.

Stiles nods and leans over to get a scoop of peppermint, just like the last time Derek and Scott were here to get ice cream.

“Daddy, I need to pee,” Scott speaks up from somewhere behind the counter, out of Stiles’ sight.

“Okay. I’ll hold your ice cream for you,” Derek says and leans forward a little to take the cone into his hands before Scott shuffles off towards the restrooms at the back of the little shop.

“He’s a great kid,“ Stiles says and puts Derek’s cup on the countertop, straightening himself again.

“Thank you,“ Derek answers, another smile forming on his lips. “I’m really proud of him.”

“Not hard to be. He’s easily one of the greatest kids I’ve met,“ Stiles says, pushing the cup towards Derek, not breaking the eye contact with the other man.

“Thank you,“ Derek says again, this time more earnest though. As if this really means something to him, as if it’s more than just a compliment from a person he’s met for the second time today. “And thank you for what you said to Scott earlier.”

“You’re welcome.”

A few moments of silence pass by in which Stiles steps over to the register, typing in the sum for the ice cream.

“Are you employed here or is this your shop,” Derek asks, letting his eyes wander through the store a little, taking in the many small details Stiles is so very proud of. He loves his shop and what it turned out to be after many, seemingly endless hours of work he and his friends put into this. It was hard work but it was worthwhile and he wouldn’t want to miss this for a second.

“It’s my shop. I opened it up about two years ago,“ Stiles answers.

“It’s pretty great.” Derek turns back towards him, giving him a serious look and to be quite honest, it warms Stiles’ heart to hear that people in general and Derek especially like his shop because he poured his heart into this and seeing that it paid off is one of the best things he could possibly get out of this.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

They smile at each other for a moment until a “done!” resounds from the door at the back of the shop and Scott’s running towards his dad, making Derek and Stiles snap out of the moment.

“Well done,“ Derek says, ruffling Scott’s hair. “But remember, no running inside shops,” he reminds his son gently.

“Sorry,“ Scott grins up at him and takes the cone from his dad.

Stiles, on the other hand, grins to himself. These two really are the epitome of cute.

“Is it the same as last time?” Derek’s puts the cup down to reach for his wallet.

“Uhm… yes. Yes, it is.”

“Okay,” Derek says and puts a five dollar bill onto the counter. “Keep the change.”

“Thank you,“ Stiles replies. “What happened to your one-handed money magic trick though,” he adds cheekily while putting the bill into the register before he closes it again.

Derek simply snorts out a laugh, corners of his mouth tugging upwards very visibly. And back with full force are the butterflies in Stiles’ stomach.

“Stiles?” Scott’s voice resonates from behind the counter.

Stiles leans all the way over the counter and rests his chin on his hands, still grinning like a doofus. “Yes?”

“Do you have milkshakes too,” Scott asks curiously, seemingly unfazed by the flirting his dad and Stiles are doing.

“We happen to have milkshakes, yes. Should I keep the milkshake maker ready for you when you come in next time?”

“Yes, please,“ Scott says halfway between serious and thrilled.

“Will do then,” Stiles grins, sticking up his thumbs. “See you soon, buddy.”

“Yes!” Scott mirrors his gesture by sticking up the thumb of his free hand too and then skips towards the door of the shop.

“See you soon, Stiles,“ Derek says.

“Yeah,” Stiles smiles. “See you soon, Derek.”

And for Stiles, saying Derek’s name so naturally feels definitely at least as good as hearing Derek say his name with such ease in return.

 

~*~

 

In the coming three weeks, Derek and Scott drop by every other day. Stiles tries to blame it on the good weather that’s been around for a while now since summer seemed to have started. Because the only other two explanations would be that they love his ice cream too much to not come as often or that Derek (and Scott) come to see him.

And that is a path of thoughts he does not want to be traveling down because it’s a slow decent into hell, he’s sure. Once he’s going down that road, his feelings will be out of control and he can’t afford to be crushing on a customer this hard.

He just can’t.

He totally is though.

He totally, inevitably is falling more and more for Derek with every visit they pay his shop.

Stiles is in some twilight, parallel universe that’s drifting somewhere between bliss and despair. Okay, it’s probably 80% bliss and 20% despair because who says it’s not allowed to crush on a customer, right? And besides, Derek is in on the flirting himself so it’s not like Stiles is pushing him.

To be honest, Derek’s words from last Tuesday are still echoing through his ears every three to four minutes.

Stiles had asked him if it’s okay for Derek to take a cone instead of his usual cup that day as they were out of cups because the delivery has been delayed. Apparently, the one warehouse where all the ice cream cups for the northern Californian area were being stored had a leakage. Luckily, the paper cups soaked up most of the water which, yay for the warehouse owner. But not so yay for all the ice cream shops in the area.

Derek said it would be fine, though and when Stiles offered him the tiny plastic spoon, Derek had said he would go without a spoon too. He liked licking things.

Stiles nearly choked on his spit. And Derek, that fucker, totally saw it and did nothing but happily smile to himself while licking at his scoop of ice cream.

It was a good thing Stiles had a job that made him work behind a counter most of the time and that Isaac was there that day to help out because Stiles was pretty sure it wasn’t okay to serve customers with half a boner. Especially not when wearing skinny jeans.

It took Stiles all of ten minutes to ‘calm down’ again and he knows he won’t see an end of Isaac teasing him merciless for it but this was so worth it. And Stiles coming faster that night than he had in the recent months upon imagining Derek giving him a hot blow job? Well, no one had to know. Especially not Isaac because that guy had enough munition to tease Stiles for years to come now. ‘Come’ speaking both figuratively and literally. Heh.

 

~*~

 

“Stiles!” An excited cheer echoes through the isle of the supermarket and when Stiles turns around, Scott’s rushing towards him.

“Hey there,“ Stiles greets him and ruffles through his hair. “Good to see you, Scott. You are not by any chance out here shopping on your own, now are you?”

“No,” Scott grins. “My mom’s here with me!”

“Your… oh, okay. That’s great,“ Stiles manages to say even though he feels like he’s just been punched in the throat. Of course Derek was married or at least in a committed relationship. Of course Stiles’ hopes are being destroyed, of course it was not possible for something to just go right for once. He developed a massive crush on Derek in the, what, roughly twenty times he’s seen him and even thought that maybe there’s the chance for something more someday because, as Stiles thought, Derek has clearly been flirting with him. But apparently, he didn’t and there’s no chance of something more because the guy is spoken for. Fuck.

“Scott?” A female’s voice resounds through the isle and a few seconds later, a women rounds the corner close to Stiles and Scott. “There you are,“ she smiles at him. “I thought you took off, you little monkey.”

“No, I just wanted to say hello to Stiles, mom!” Scott scoots towards his mother and takes her hand, tugging her towards Stiles the last few meters.

“I see. So you are Stiles, the one who Scott keeps talking about. The man with the great ice cream and the funny stories.”

“That would be me, I guess.” Stiles extends his hand towards the woman after she comes to a halt in front of him. “Nice to meet you. I’m Stiles.”

“Marin,“ she says, taking his hand. “Nice to meet you.” Upon further consideration, Scott looks a lot like her and there’s no doubt he’s her son even though their resemblance lies more in the details rather than in the obvious features of their faces.

And then, one of the things Stiles dreads the most happens. A for him somewhat awkward silence falls upon them where no one knows quite what to say to the other because they’ve just met for the first time and things like _how have you been lately_ and _what are you up to nowadays_ just don’t work because you have no history together whatsoever.

But Scott, being the everlasting hero he is, pipes in and safes Stiles from a very slow and painful death. “Mom, can we get cake for dad too?” Stiles loves this kid.

“Yeah, sure. Why don’t you go ahead and pick one,“ Scott’s mom says while she lightly strokes her hand over the top of Scott’s head.

“Okay,” Scott cheers and waves before he heads towards one of the other isles. “Bye Stiles!”

“Bye, Scott,” Stiles replies, lifting his hand to wave in return even though Scott’s nearly vanished by now.

“Sorry, whenever I go do things like this with him, he’s a little whirlwind.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I like his energy,“ Stiles waves it off with his hand. “So you’re getting cake. Is anything special coming up?” He can at least try making a bit of small talk for the pretence of politeness, right?

“Yeah, Scott’s birthday is this Saturday and I can’t be there this year because of my job and we’re having cake in advance.”

“Ah, okay. Well then I hope it’ll be a great party,“ Stiles says.

“Thank you but it’s only the three of us,” she answers.

“Doesn’t make a difference. Some of the best parties I’ve been to were with less than five people.” He shrugs because for Stiles, it really doesn’t matter how many people attend said parties as long as it’s fun.

“That’s a good way of thinking,” she smiles. Stiles returns the smile politely, hoping that it doesn’t seem too forced. “I’ll better go and catch up with Scott before he’s miles away.”

“Yeah, sure. Have a good day. Say hi to Derek for me,” Stiles says, nodding his head.

“I will. It was nice to meet you,“ she says before she turns around. “Goodbye Stiles.”

“Yeah, bye!”

When Marin is out of sight, having rounded the corner towards the other side of the supermarket, Stiles runs his hand over his face, sighing deeply. “Shit.”

 

~*~

 

Stiles goes back to the shop after he’s got all the supplies he needed to test out two new ice cream recipes he’s been pretty excited about. But his mood has been spoiled completely by the supermarket encounter. It’s just a crush he has on Derek, not a full-blown all-in feeling of being in love but nevertheless, finding out that the other man’s in a committed relationship, married or not, is more than just a little depressing. And from what it looks like, Marin really seems to be a genuinely nice woman. Not even someone he can indulge his full-blown dislike on. But that’s not something Stiles would do to begin with so at least he knows Derek is with someone Stiles could possibly like instead of silently hate. Or worse, that would constantly stir up the question of _why her she’s not even nice why not me_ in his head when he’d be running into them.

Stiles knows that he’s seen Derek very little so far and that mourning whatever kind of feelings he had for him to the amount he does at the moment is a bit over the top. But what can he do? He can’t exactly decide to stop thinking about how much he hates it that, apparently, he mistook Derek’s actions for flirting. Or that it actually was flirting but only the kind you do for fun and not because you have earnest intentions of taking things further.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Stiles jumped to a conclusion, love related or not, because he thought he read the signals right when he actually didn’t.

“What kind of mood storm did you get into?” Isaac emerges from the back of the shop with an empty box in his hand.

“It’s nothing,“ Stiles says while he puts away the ingredients for the ice cream.

“Yeah, right. That’s why you left the shop totally hyper about an hour ago and now you’re back and you look like someone slit the tires of your jeep,“ Isaac says, wearing his _don’t even try to lie to me_ expression.

For a moment, Stiles contemplates about lying to Isaac nevertheless since it’s ‘only’ a crush but on the other hand, Stiles knows that Isaac won’t make fun of him for it. Stiles and Isaac have known each other for too many years now and he’s become one of his closest friends. He wouldn’t tease Stiles for this.

“I met Scott in the supermarket,” Stiles starts, reaching for another paper bag.

“You mean the little kid Scott? The one with the dad you’ve been so, urm, fond of? Every time he comes in, you two flirt like there’s no tomorrow,” Isaac says, a mischief sparkle blinking up in his eyes.

“Yeah, Derek,” Stiles just states.

“What about them then? Has something happened with Derek in the supermarket?”

“Yeah… well, no, actually not. I just met his wife, I think,” Stiles says while he shoves a package of flour into one of the cabinets with more force than strictly needed, sending a bit of dust flying around him.

Isaac winces and mumbles out a quiet _shit_ before he’s making his way over and puts a hand onto Stiles' shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. Are you sure she’s really his wife? Has she said so?”

“Not directly but she talked about getting cake _for the three of them_ because she can’t be there on Scott’s actual birthday on Saturday and… there was not much room left for a misunderstanding, I guess,” Stiles shrugs when he gets up and offers a weak, probably not at all convincing smile to Isaac, dusting off his hands.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Isaac says, empathy shading his voice. “And don’t even try to shrug it off,” he interrupts when Stiles is about to speak up again.

“I wasn’t going to.”

“You totally were and that sucks. You can feel sad over that, okay? It sucks to think the other person’s interested too when they’re not. Which is weird because it totally looked like Derek was interested too.” Isaac leans against the counter and crosses his arms in front of his chest, a frown ghosting over his face.

“Maybe he was but I don’t even want to go _there_ because it’s all kinds of wrong. I just…,“ Stiles heaves out a heavy breath and runs his hand through his hair after he’s straightened himself up again. “It was nice to have that again. To flirt without… without really worrying about backstories and all that stuff. But then there were these deep looks exchanged and suddenly it was maybe going towards something more than flirting. Something along the line of honest affection and before I could even stop myself, I felt fond of him and he… shit, he snugged his way into my mind and here I am, being all depressed about someone I sold ice cream to. Wow, I should definitely overthink my life choices.”

“Nah, just try to…” Isaac shakes his head briefly. “I don’t know, sorry. There’s no kind of manual for this but I think it’s best to just pull through with it. Maybe it _is_ just a misunderstanding. Just wait and see what happens. But most of all, don’t talk yourself into thinking it’s your fault, okay? It’s not. He came in here and he sent you these signals even I thought were meant to be flirty. You’re a great and handsome guy and I’d totally date you.”

This makes Stiles laugh out loud and, once more, he’s grateful that he employed Isaac back then even though he was in a financially instable situation with just having started his business. “Good to know. But hey, what do you think about going over to Allison’s and Lydia’s place? They invited me for Pizza tonight and I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you too. Plus, it’s Allison’s place,“ Stiles winks, trying to change topics.

Isaac only groans though, burying his face in his hands, mumbling incoherent words.

“Sorry, didn’t quite catch that,” Stiles chuckles.

“I said: I’m going to make a fool of myself again and she will think I’m even more ridiculous than she already does. Which is not even possible I think.”

“Dude,” Stiles pipes out. “She doesn’t think that and don’t try to object, I’ve got first-hand info. Besides, she’s been sending you signals for quite a while now. She’s just waiting for you to get your shit together.”

“Easier said than done,“ Isaac sighs while he throws his bag over his shoulder and follows Stiles to the door.

“I know, buddy. I know but I think it’s worth a try. Of course, it’s still your decision though,” Stiles says upon locking the door of the shop.

“Yeah, I know. We’ll see how things go. Hey, can I catch a ride with you tonight?”

“Sure,” Stiles nods and leads them to his car around the corner.

In the end, Stiles goes home alone and is totally fine with it because Isaac’s living in walking distance from Allison’s and Lydia’s place and he’s too engrossed in a talk with Allison. Tearing him away from it would be the last thing Stiles would do. Not after all these years in which Isaac’s been so in love with her but never dared to approach her because he’s been too shy and because Isaac’s relationship-related self-esteem lies somewhere on the bottom of the Atlantic ocean.

Stiles understands it since he’s been there too. He’s been in love with Lydia for quite some time too but at some point, his feelings for her just faded and made way for the strong friendship they’ve got now which he’s truly grateful for. And he hopes dearly that Isaac and Allison will figure out whatever’s between them.

He’s glad that he got to be around his friends tonight though, able to forget all the things Derek-related that go through his mind ever since he left the supermarket this afternoon. Luckily, Isaac didn’t mention anything about the handsome new customer they’ve got and Stiles’ apparently not so small, developing feelings for him because Allison would not’ve stopped checking if Stiles is _really_ okay and if she could do anything for him and that would’ve been a bit of an overkill for Stiles right now.

So Stiles goes home alone, getting into bed around three in the morning and if he’s been feeling a little lonely doing that in the last few weeks, he’s sure it’s just a phase.

 

~*~

 

Over the course of the next few days, Stiles keeps thinking about Derek. But not as much as he keeps thinking about _why_ he thinks about him so much. It’s nearly a bit concerning that a person he met a total of twenty-ish times, brief encounters no longer than ten minutes usually, managed to make himself at home in Stiles’ mind to that extend. There must be something about him that Stiles’ subconscious was jumping at like a starving dog jumps a bowl of food which was, by all means, not great. He likes to have his head screwed on the right way and not being twisted up in random thoughts about some guys’ biceps or eyes or smile or laugh. Okay, at least not _all_ the time.

True, Stiles has not been in a real relationship since Danny and he broke up a few years ago because they felt it was better to continue being friends without the relationship (one of the best decisions Stiles ever made, if he was quite frank). He only had a few casual flings after that, some of them lasting for a few weeks even but he was never really in a serious relationship again and, if he was completely honest with himself, he never really felt a deep connection, investment or attraction to the people he’s been with. No matter if they had sex or not, none of them really _touched_ him in a way that lasted. Apart from Danny, he never parted with someone after they decided to end whatever they had and mourned the loss of the relationship for longer than maybe a day. It was mostly just sex or kissing or talking anyway which was cool and Stiles liked all of those things a lot but he hadn’t been crushed if one of the relationships came to an end.

Derek though… he’s been on Stiles’ mind constantly for over a week now and that’s more than he can say about 90% of all the other people Stiles has actually been with (Danny’s the exceptional 10%) and Stiles just met Derek because he decided to enter his shop. There was not even an active participation on Stiles’ side to meet Derek and yet, there was hardly anything he wanted to do more these days: see Derek. Which is a contradiction because at the same time, he also does _not_ want to meet Derek since Derek is most likely married and therefore, the flirting is nothing but pointless and seeing him would suck. Period.

Of course, many people would say that there’s nothing wrong with some light-hearted flirting and usually Stiles would really, _really_ gladly agree with them but this time, it was different somehow. Stiles couldn’t pinpoint at all _why_ it was different but it definitely was. Thumbs up for complicated feelings.

Stiles is thinking about said complicated feelings, yet again, while he’s doing some inventory work in the storage area on Saturday morning when the little bell over the door rings, indicating that someone just entered the shop. Stiles drops his clipboard and steps out of the smaller room back into the front. “Sorry, we don’t open before ten.”

“I know and I’m sorry. It’s just that I could really use a little help. Or a lot.”

Stiles would lie if he’d say he didn’t nearly knock over a glass on the countertop when he sees, or rather hears first, exactly who just entered the shop. “Derek, hi. Uh… is everything okay,“ Stiles asks upon seeing just how stressed out Derek looks.

“No,” Derek answers and Stiles tenses up only to relax a few seconds later when Derek continues. “Yes, I mean yes, sorry. Everything’s fine. It’s just that the bakery around the corner called me this morning to say that they’re really sorry and that they can’t make the cake for Scott’s birthday today because of some accident with their ovens.”

“Oh, yeah. I heard about it from Boyd. From what he told me, it seems to be something pretty major. Happened only last night, as far as I know.” Stiles steps around the counter towards Derek.

“Yeah. It sucks and I’m sorry for them but I’m out of a birthday cake for Scott now and the party’s this afternoon and all the cakes in the supermarket look like they fell from a truck at some point and I can’t bake for my life and Marin’s not there anymore. She’s the one who’s good at baking and now I…” The words leave Derek’s mouth in such a rush that even Stiles has got a problem to understand him properly. He’s glad that at some point, Derek just stops to talk, running his hand through his hair, mumbling a quiet _I’m sorry I’m a mess today_.

“Hey, don’t worry, okay? We’ll figure something out,“ Stiles smiles at Derek, leaving all that mess inside his head behind for a few moments. Just because his feelings are majorly confusing doesn’t mean he has to blame Derek for it. Even though he would love to find out why Derek flirted with him that intently when he’s married but alas, you can’t have it all right?

“I’m sorry I came bursting in here, messing up your schedule. I just wondered if you sell ice cream cakes or anything cakelike. By now, I guess I’d even take a big plate of cookies,” Derek says and the look he gives Stiles is filled with so much hope and contentment, it makes Stiles' stomach do a somersault.

“We usually don’t sell any kind of cake,“ Stiles starts out and Derek’s shoulders slump by a mile. “But I could put something together that will pass for a decent cake. I’m pretty good at baking, if I may say so,” he smiles.

“Would you really do that? I mean, if it’s too much and too little time, I’d understand. That’s really okay too,“ Derek steps towards Stiles and despite his words, there’s a little spark of hope again.

“Nah, it’ll be fine. Isaac’s coming in today and I wanted to finish early anyway so I could help my dad with some garden work he wanted to get done this weekend. I can drop by your place before that and bring you the cake?”

“Really? I don’t want to cause you trouble with this.”

“Nah,“ Stiles waves off. “Saturdays are not really busy.” Total lie. Saturdays are the busiest days of the week and Derek probably knows it. Luckily, he’s not calling Stiles out on it.

“You’re a lifesaver. You probably just saved not only my sanity but also Scott’s birthday,” Derek says.

“Wait till you actually see the cake before you say something like that,” Stiles laughs. “Let me just get my notepad real quick so I can jot down the details.”

“Yeah,” Derek gives him one of the most gorgeous honest smiles he’s seen so far and leans against one of the small tables beside him. Stiles’ knees melt a little.

Stiles rushes back into the storage area and slumps against one of the cupboards. “I’m so screwed,” he mumbles to himself, running a hand over his face. “He’s most likely married, Stiles. He’s. Married.” He allows himself to stay there for a few more seconds before he takes a deep breath, exhales loudly and reaches for the notepad in one of the shelves beside him.

“Sorry, took me some time to find it,“ Stiles apologises when he rushes back towards Derek.

“Don’t worry,“ Derek replies and straightens up again.

“Please sit down, it’s much more comfortable to get this done seated,“ Stiles suggests and drops onto one of the chairs.

Derek takes the one opposite of him and looks at Stiles intently. “What do you need to know?”

“Uh… How many people will eat the cake? I mean, for how many is it,“ Stiles asks, getting his pen out.

“All together, nine. But seven of those are kids, so…”

“Okay, good. Are there any allergies or things that should not go into the cake?”

“No. I asked all the parents and, surprisingly, there are no allergies, special wishes or intolerances. So you can go crazy on the ingredients. Well, maybe not _too_ crazy but you know what I mean,“ Derek chuckles and if that’s not sending a jolt to Stiles’ stomach and lower regions, well then.

“Yay, so you want a cactus strawberry cake with chocolate-chili-coating, right,” Stiles says, pretending to write exactly that down onto his notepad. Which he nearly drops upon Derek’s heartfelt laugh.

“There’s no such thing, you made that up.”

“Remind me to take you to one of my friend Erica’s culinary gatherings. She’s all about trying out new things. I mean, I like to try out new things too but at a more… settled level, maybe.”

Derek laughs again at that and yes, Stiles could get used to seeing him like that. Derek’s got a gorgeous laugh.

“That’s good to know,” Derek settles into a fond smile again, looking at Stiles.

They stay like that for a few seconds, smiling at each other, before Stiles gulps down the knot in his throat and speaks up again. “Anything else? What’s Scott’s favourite kind of cake?”

“Oh, he loves all kinds of cakes but I guess it’s best if it’s something basic so it works for all the kids.”

“Yeah, okay. I can work with that. Do you want anything on top of the cake? A flower? A dog? A picture of my face,“ Stiles grins.

“I wouldn’t mind a picture of you but I think for Scott’s birthday, something Scott requested would be in order, I guess. He asked for a cake with a wolf on it and I did order that at the bakery but that’s way too short-handed now, so don’t worry. As long as it tastes good, everything’s great,“ Derek says, catching Stiles' gaze after Stiles looks up again from scribbling down a hasty _wolf top cake_ onto his notepad.

“I think that’s manageable,” Stiles says and gets up from the chair. Derek follows suit, pushing the chair back towards the table after he got up.

“I can’t thank you enough, Stiles.” Another shiver runs down Stiles’ spine upon hearing Derek saying his name. “You saved the day.”

“I’m glad I can help,“ Stiles smiles.

“Oh, god, I’m so sorry. I forgot to ask what the cake will cost,“ Derek says, eyes wide.

“Let’s just figure that out later, Stiles shakes his head.

“Okay,” Derek replies, sending Stiles another one of those deep, maybe even meaningful looks and it drives Stiles nuts, to be honest. For once because Derek’s _married_ and he shouldn’t even _do_ that kind of thing to people and secondly because Stiles knows Derek’s married but can’t help to fall for him anyway. Fuck. “See you later then. And thank you again.”

“You’re welcome,” Stiles replies and Derek’s nearly out of the door when Stiles' mind crashes down from cloud nine, back into his head. “Derek!”

“Yes?” Derek turns around quickly, looking at Stiles directly, his eyes open and aware.

“I still need the delivery address,“ Stiles says somewhat awkwardly.

Derek on the other hand just laughs. “God, I’m so sorry. I’m such a mess today. I swear, this usually never happens to me,“ he explains, fishing into the back pocket of his jeans to get his purse. A moment later, he hands Stiles a business card. “The party’s at that address. You may even know it. It’s the big Hale house in the woods at the border of Beacon Hills.”

“Ah, that one. Yeah, I heard about it from my dad. I can deliver it at around half past three today?”

“That’s great. If you have any problems finding it, just call me. I’ll have the landline phone with me,” Derek says and turns back towards the door. “I’ll see you later then. Thank you again, Stiles,“ he calls out over his shoulder before he leaves the shop and vanishes from Stiles’ sight.

The first thing coming to Stiles mind after Derek’s gone is the urge to bash his head onto the counter as hard as humanly possible. This morning, he thought that he really needs to sort out his head so he won’t be kept back by his little crush on Derek and that he’ll just act friendly the next time Derek comes in and that he’ll just dodge possible attempts at flirting from Derek. Now though… now, things look completely different. Now, he’s so in too deep that he’s not sure how he will get out of this without making a complete fool of himself. He hopes and prays that none of the emotional rollercoasters he’s in will show in his behaviour towards Derek and Scott and, most of all, Marin. It’s good to know that she won’t be around when he delivers the cake this afternoon.

The cake. Shit. The thing is that from time to time, there’s a situation at which Stiles doesn’t really stop to think and just agrees to things people, usually those who are close to him, ask him to do. Or people he likes, in this case Derek. Stiles had agreed to make the cake for Derek without even knowing if he’s got all the ingredients for it in the shop (it’s not like he already knows what cake he’s making anyway).

So he does what’s most reasonable at the moment. He checks which ingredients he needs and then, calls Isaac.

“Hey, what’s up,” Isaac greets him after picking up.

“Promise me you won’t say or ask anything.”

“Uh… sorry?”

“Just don’t say or ask anything apart from _okay, I can do that_ or _sorry, I can’t_ when I tell you what I’m about to tell you, okay,” Stiles inquires.

“Uh… o…kay, I guess?” Isaac sounds justifiably confused.

“I need some ingredients from the store. Can you go get ‘em for me?”

“Okay, I can do that,” Isaac answers.

“You’re so quick on the uptake. That’s why I love you best,“ Stiles chuckles.

“You love Lydia best,“ Isaac retorts but his voice gives away the playful tone easily.

“I love you all the same, you know that.”

Isaac just snorts.

“Shush. Okay, back to topic. Get yourself something to write, please.”

“Yeah, just gimme a sec,“ Isaac mumbles, clearly leaning away from the phone. “Okay, shoot,” he says a few moments later.

For the next minute, Stiles lists all the ingredients he needs for the cake he’s about to make. Isaac hums affirmatively every now and then until Stiles can’t come up with any other possible thing Isaac could put on the list. “I guess that’s it.”

“Good, because one more thing on the list and I would need find out where I could rent a flatbed truck,” Isaac snorts.

“Hey, you promised to not say anything,“ Stiles whines.

“Yeah, sorry. But in all honestly, will I get an explanation for this eventually?”

“Yeah, you will. Eventually. When can you be here? Could you be here before we open,“ Stiles asks hopefully.

On the other end, Isaac shuffles around, probably looking for a watch in his proximity. “I guess if I get going now I could be there in thirty to forty minutes. Would that be enough for you?”

“Yes, that would be awesome. Thank you, you really saved my ass!”

“Yeah yeah, don’t worry. I had nothing to do anyway,“ Isaac shrugs it off and seems to get up from where he’s been sitting.

“Hey, I’m grateful nevertheless. You know that, right? And when you get here, you tell me how things went with Allison yesterday.”

“Oh god, I’m not sure you _want_ to know.”

“I do. See you later, buddy,” Stiles says before he hangs up.

 

~*~

 

The entire morning and noon, Stiles is busy with planning and actually making the cake. He decided to make a devil’s food cake with a vanilla cream inside since Scott had both vanilla and chocolate ice cream when Derek brought him here so he must like it. And kids tend to really like chocolate so Stiles is on the safe side. But Stiles is also someone who likes to be prepared for as many possible problems as he can be. That’s why he makes a smaller strawberry cake too, just in case.

Thankfully, Isaac’s there with him the entire time so that he can jump in and serve the customers when Stiles is too caught up with making the cake to be able to do that. It’s an exception from the way Stiles normally works and Isaac knows it.

“You got it bad for him, don’t you?” That’s what Isaac has said to Stiles after he found out what the reason behind all this hassle is. Stiles didn’t quite have it in him to say _no, I don’t_ since that would partially have been a lie. He just shrugged instead.

They talked about the date Isaac and Allison had (and no matter how much Isaac waves it off, it _was_ a date). Stiles is beyond glad that the two of them finally had the guts to approach each other and give this _something_ between them a try.

“We went to this café in Cartridge, you know the town about twenty minutes away from Beacon Hills,” Isaac says while he whips the cream for the filling of the cake.

“Yeah, it’s nice there,” Stiles nods, pouring another round of cake batter into the baking pan. It’s the third and thankfully last cake base and Stiles is seriously grateful that he decided against a fourth one because it would’ve been too much work as well as insanely going overboard.

“We just sat there and talked, for like, three hours. It’s been amazing and she was… different somehow? I think I saw a side of her I rarely get to see, if at all. And I think she enjoyed talking to me and listening to me too.” Isaac ends his last sentence with a deep sigh and runs one of his hands through his curly hair.

“That’s great. I’m glad that you get the chance to just talk. How are you feeling about it though? I mean, is it okay for you… the way it’s going?” Stiles sends a gaze towards Isaac before he puts the baking tools aside and pushes the pan into the oven.

“It’s already much more than I thought would be possible about a month ago. I‘ve had a crush on her for so long that I can’t even sort out my feelings properly just yet. I think I need a bit more time to get used to the idea that she may be into me as well,“ Isaac replies, putting the used tools into the sink so they can clean them later.

“Totally understandable. I think you should take your time anyway, really enjoy the dating and so on because dating is a great thing. I mean, _I_ think it’s a great thing. Some people think it’s annoying but I love it.” Stiles makes his way towards the front of the shop after he hears the bell ring to serve the incoming customers.

“Yeah… it really is great,” Isaac mumbles more to himself than to anyone in particular, putting a huge smile on Stiles’ face because Isaac really is _that_ smitten with Allison.

 

~*~

 

Stiles pulls up in front of the Hale house at a quarter after three. He managed to finish the cake way before time ran out but when he looked at the finished version, he thought it was a bit… simple. And Scott did wish for a wolf so he made another layer of thin white chocolate, painted a detailed picture of a howling wolf on it and put it on top of the cake and without wanting to flatter himself too much but he must admit that the cake looks amazing. The strawberry cake turned out great too and if this party is a let-down, which Stiles sincerely hopes it’s not, it won’t be for his cakes at least.

After he took a few deep breaths to prepare himself for seeing Derek again (which won’t really make a difference, he knows that), Stiles gets out of the car, rounds it and opens the passenger door to take out the cakes which sit in two transport boxes on the passenger seat.

He stacks the boxes on top of each other, takes them into his hands and kicks the door shut with his foot. There is a distant noise, a faint mixture of joyous laughter and chatting voices, coming from the back of the house so he figures that’s where he should go. He’s extra careful so no last minute accident happens because that would suck royally but after two or three minutes of taking one cautious step after the other, Stiles has rounded the house and spots Derek in the garden and a group of about seven children playing some game that looks a lot like playing tag.

“Derek,“ Stiles calls out to get the other man’s attention and it works in an instant.

Derek turns his head towards Stiles, a wide smile forming on his lips. Yet, there’s another subtle display of emotions ghosting over Derek’s face. As odd as it may sound, it’s something Stiles would call relief and gratefulness.

“Hey, glad you could make it,“ Derek says, making his way over to Stiles, throwing a look over his shoulder towards the playing kids. “Wow, two boxes?”

“Yeah, I really like to either be prepared or go overboard. That’s up for you to decide,” Stiles laughs.

“Definitely the former. Why don’t we bring these inside,“ Derek says while he takes one of the boxes from Stiles.

“Yup, let’s do that,“ Stiles replies, letting Derek lead the way into the house. They make their way up to the veranda towards the back door which Derek holds open for Stiles. A few moments pass until they reach the kitchen and Stiles tries desperately to not stare too much or be too obviously curious about the way Derek and Scott are living.

No, not Derek and Scott. Derek, Scott and Marin. Shit. This thought slipped Stiles’ mind until a few moments ago. He’s been so busy with finishing and perfecting the cake and getting it to the party, taking in all the new impressions that flood his mind that he completely forgot that this is not just Derek’s and Scott’s home. It’s also Marin’s. Who’s Derek’s wife. Shit.

Stiles can barely suppress a frustrated sigh. It’s amazing in a very depressing way how fast his mood can drop from level _butterflies-in-my-stomach_ excited to _I-hope-I-will-be-able-to-leave-in-the-next-five-minutes-or-else-I-will-embarrass-myself-someway_ frustrated.

“Stiles, this looks _amazing_ ,“ Derek, honest to god, _gasps_ upon opening the box with the chocolate cake with the wolf on top. “You’ve outdone yourself. This is more than I could’ve asked for. Thank you,“ Derek finishes.

“I hope it’ll taste good. That’s what counts,“ Stiles shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“If the smell is any indication for the taste, it will taste delicious. Both cakes look amazing, Stiles. I will never be able to repay you. Which brings me to the price. What do I owe you,“ Derek asks, looking at Stiles openly, a fond expression on his features.

“Nothing. It’s my birthday present for Scott,“ Stiles waves off. ‘And I can’t take money from you for this because it wouldn’t feel right at all’, he thinks to himself.

“No, I can’t accept that. You’ve gone so much out of your way and this is such a…,“ Derek starts out but Stiles cuts in halfway through the sentence.

“Derek, I mean it. I won’t accept any money from you for this,” Stiles says, shaking his head.

Derek, in return, sighs deeply before he nods. “Okay. I know I said it before but thank you, Stiles.” And when Derek reaches out, putting his warm, broad hand onto Stiles’ arm, looking at him with such honest gratitude and maybe even affection, Stiles wants to both drop onto his knees and weep in joy as well as to run away screaming.

“I need to head outside to make sure the kids are not up for any mischief. You wanna join in?” Derek nods his head towards the general direction of the backyard.

“Yeah, sure,“ Stiles hears himself say before he can even think about declining, too busy with missing the warm presence of Derek’s hand. And changing his mind now would be even ruder. Staying for a glass of coke it is, then.

“Stiles!,“ Scott shrieks loudly the moment they step back out of the house into the garden.

“Hey there, birthday boy,“ Stiles laughs and catches Scott who’s running towards him excitedly, picking him up in the process. “Happy birthday, buddy.”

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Scott beams at him, holding onto Stiles’ shirt with his hands.

“Surprise!” Stiles grins at him and ruffles his hair with his free hand. “Have you had a good birthday so far?”

“It was the best! Dad made me breakfast and we got to eat it on the couch while we watched TV. And then I went to grandma and grandpa and got lots of presents and then my friends came over and now we’re playing cyber tag!” Scott underlines all of what he’s saying with animated hand gestures and Stiles could just cuddle him forever for being so unbelievably cute.

“Wow, that sound amazing,“ Stiles smiles widely at Scott and briefly looks over to Derek who looks at the two of them with such fondness and contentment in his eyes that Stiles’ knees go weak again. It’s as if he just can’t seem to escape from the magic pull Derek has on him. But no matter what kind of misery he’s in over Derek and his feelings for him, he can’t help but to love Scott. “But what exactly is cyber tag,“ he asks the kid in his arms.

“It’s very complicated,” Scott says solemnly.

Stiles laughs again. “Oh, I see. Then off you go. Won’t want you to miss a part of this fun looking yet apparently very complicated game,” Stiles says and puts Scott back down who scurries off back to his friends with a loud cheer.

“I’m sorry, he can be a handful,” Derek chuckles.

“Nah, I love it. He’s great. Marin and you can be very proud of him,“ Stiles answers, not quite meeting Derek’s gaze. He does see Derek stiffen upon hearing what he said, which, in the end, makes Stiles look up.

“You know Marin,” Derek asks with an unreadable expression.

“I met her at the supermarket with Scott the other day. She’s really nice. I’m glad Scott gets to have such a cool mother.”

And then, the oddest thing happens. Unlike all the things Stiles would expect to happen, Derek sighs out loud and just nods his head. But not in a way that says he agrees with Stiles but more like he’s suddenly in a wistful mood.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to impose or sound nosy. I was j…,” Stiles apologises, slightly holding up his hands in an apologetic gesture. Just like back in the days when his dad caught him doing exactly those things he was told not to do like staying up till three in the night, reading.

“No, sorry. It’s just…,“ Derek cuts into Stiles talking, attempting to say something but breaks off in the middle of the sentence and runs his hand through his hair instead. Just when he’s about to speak up again, Scott comes running towards them again, throwing himself against Stiles’ legs.

“Stiles, do you want to play tag with us? My friends asked if you wanna join and I think you’d be a great tagger but it’s totally okay if you don’t want to,“ Scott says while he tugs at Stiles’ jeans.

“No, thanks for asking. I’d love to join in,“ Stiles says, running his hand through Scott’s hair. “If that’s cool with your dad?”

Derek nods, forcing up a smile. “It’s okay, don’t worry.”

As Scott tugs Stiles towards the group of his friends in the back the garden, Stiles looks back at Derek over his shoulder and sees him still standing there, unmoving with his head hunched down and his hand running over his face again. He looks miserable, as if what Stiles said somehow really hit him but Stiles has no clue why. All he knows is that he’d do just about anything to fix it, even though he doesn’t even know what’s wrong.

 

~*~

 

Whoever says playing tag is a bit of light fun is _wrong_. After about an hour of this game of doom with the kids, Stiles is absolutely beat and preferably won’t move a finger in the next two weeks.

“Here,” Derek’s voice resounds from his left and startles Stiles so much he nearly trips while standing. Wouldn’t be the first time.

A glass with what looks like homemade lemonade comes into his view. Stiles takes it gratefully and eagerly drinks a few gulps to wet his dry throat. “Oh god,” he moans. “This is heaven on earth. Thank you.” It takes him less than thirty seconds to finish the entire glass.

“You’re welcome. And thank you for staying and for playing with Scott. I’m sorry he bribed you into this.”

“Oh, no no. I love playing with them. The only thing I hate is the realisation that I get old and am hopelessly out of shape because I can’t make it through an hour of playing tag without wheezing for air at one point or another,“ Stiles laughs.

Derek joins in on the laughter, nodding as if he understands exactly what Stiles is talking about. For a while, they stay silent, letting the laughter vanish into the warm summer air around them while they listen to the kids running around in the garden, still playing some sort of game. It astounds Stiles how much energy they have, how committed they are to the game and just how much fun they have doing this seemingly simple thing. So many people say the children of today are spoiled with technology and don’t even know what being a kid is like. That may be true for some kids but luckily, there are also many kids like Scott and his friends for whom a ‘simple’ game of tag is the epitome of fun and adventure and if Stiles could, he’d watch them for a little while longer because watching alone is more fun than most things he does day to day. But he guesses that’s it’s time to leave since he really doesn’t want to bother Derek any longer and because with every minute he stays, the butterflies in his stomach are rioting a bit more.

Nevertheless, there’s still one thing he has to resolve before he goes home.

“Derek, I… Look, I’m really sorry for making you uncomfortable earlier on. I didn’t mean to bring up a difficult topic,” Stiles says, eyeing Derek from under his eyelashes.

“That’s not it,” Derek says, shaking his head. “And even if it were, how would you’ve been supposed to know?”

“I, uh…..,” Stiles mumbles, not completely sure as to how he could reply to this.

“Things between me and Marin are a bit strained at the moment but I don’t want to burden you with this.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I mean, every marriage has its problems from time to time.” Stiles tries to sound reassuring and supportive but this topic is so delicate that he’s walking on the thinnest ice and could break in every possible second.

And when he looks up to meet Derek’s gaze, Stiles notices just how delicate this topic really is. Derek’s staring at him with wide eyes and a confused expression and Stiles can’t believe he messed up this gravely. Twice. In the timespan of _one_ afternoon. This is a new low, even for Stiles.

“Shit, I’m sorry Derek. Let’s just change top…”

“You think Marin and I am married,” Derek asks incredulously.

“Uh…. you aren’t… married,” Stiles asks just as dumbfounded as Derek did.

“No,” the other man stresses, underlining his statement with a clear hand gesture.

And all Stiles wants to do right now, despite the rather embarrassing situation he’s gotten himself into, is cheer with utter excitement. So all of this stress, these doubts and this mental turmoil were totally unsubstantiated and maybe Derek _has_ been flirting with Stiles. For a moment, things feel incredibly light.

But then, another thought bursts into his mind. It’s not necessary for them to be married. You can have kids without being married and be together still. And his stomach falls again.

“Yeah, I kind of got the impression you were when I met her and Scott at the supermarket. From what she was saying, I mean. I think I misunderstood it completely,” Stiles grins sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck. “But it must be nice for her to have such a nice and warm place to come home to even without you guys being married.” It’s not making him exactly comfortable to talk about Derek’s partner when he secretly harbours feelings for the man, even less ever since the beginning of this conversation, but he can’t avoid the topic completely either.

“What? Why would she… Stiles, she’s not living with us.” Derek falters, sounding even more confused.

“She’s not? Oh, I thought she was. But okay, it’s not unusual nowadays for families to live apart from each other when one parent is working in such a job. You don’t hear it that often about married couples but I think it’s great that it’s working for you.”

Now, Derek actually falls silent altogether. Stiles follows suit and his mouth falls shut too, looking at Derek with a confused expression that’s met with Derek’s expression of even greater confusion.

A few seconds pass by before Derek gasps out, running a hand over his face. “Oh my god, you… you think Marin and I are _together_?!” He almost sounds offended.

“Uh…. yeah?” Stiles’ eyes dart over Derek’s face frantically, taking in the other man’s exasperation. “I’m… sorry?”

“What? You’re sorry? What fo…. Stiles, first of all, you don’t have to apologise for anything. And secondly, I’m _not_ married or in a relationship with her! Marin and I broke up when Scott was six months old.”

Stiles blinks at Derek dumbfounded. “Huh.”

Derek looks back at him but his confusion makes way for a twisted form of fondness after a moment or two. “What on earth made you think I was?”

“What she said in the supermarket about just the three of you celebrating Scott’s birthday because she’s away and you saying she’s not there and that Scott misses her a lot and then I see the photos of you guys in your house and…. It just really really felt like that?” Stiles isn’t sure how he could explain this to Derek but, hey, he _was_ sure they were married, okay? The signs told him they were. If there would’ve been the slightest chance of them not being together anymore, Stiles would’ve been all over that in an instance.

“We’re definitely not married, never were. We’re not in any kind of relationship apart from being… friends. Yeah, we’re friends. She’s still Scott’s mom and they love each other so she’s visiting as much as possible,” Derek says, stepping closer towards Stiles.

“That’s uh…. I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. Everything just felt like you were, you know… together,” Stiles rubs the back of his neck awkwardly again, staring at his shoes very intently.

“I guess someone who doesn’t meet me too often could get the impression we were. But we’re not. The only really good thing that came out of our relationship was Scott. Everything else has been nice for a while but didn’t work out at all in the end.”

“I’m sorry. Well, you get what I mean. Breaking up sucks most of the time,” Stiles shoots Derek a lopsided and apologetic grin.

“It does but it went down halfway decent. Especially because of Scott. And to make it official: I’m not married or in any other kind of relationship. Except for the lady who delivers the bread to us because it’s the best bread in the world and I’d never cheat on her in my life.”

“That’s what I call serious commitment,” Stiles snorts.

Derek grins and silence falls on them for a moment or two, until Derek speaks up again. “You really thought we were married,” Derek shakes his head, still smiling.

“Yeah.” The corner of Stiles’ mouth lifts upwards even more. “But hey, what do you think? Cake time now?”

“Definitely,” Derek grins and turns around before he yells out an impressive ‘Cake time!’. It takes mere seconds before turmoil breaks loose and all the kids come running towards them, arms waving around and a sound very similar to Mel Gibson’s battle cry from Braveheart filling the air.

Stiles smiles to himself, thinking about how much he enjoys these kinds of things and how he can’t wait to have kids of his own. He wouldn’t be quite ready now but he knows that he wants kids at some point in his life. That Derek’s role in his fantasies about family grows day by day is another story though.

 

~*~

 

About an hour later, Stiles is on the way to his dad’s. He would’ve loved to stay longer but it was the perfect time to leave, not lingering too long but not leaving too early either. He told Derek that his dad is waiting for him and that he promised to help him with some things in the house but that he had a blast today and that he’s grateful that everything worked out that well. The cakes were a total hit and Scott loved them, especially the one with the wolf. It made Stiles’ heart explode with fondness for the little boy when he hugged him for thirty seconds straight and he was happy that he could do him a favour, making him laugh and squeal the way he did the whole time while Derek was cutting the cake.

Derek had led him out to his car, leaving the kids to their own for a minute since they were watching a movie now anyway. “Thank you, Stiles. You saved our day, in more than one way,“ he’s said, leaning against the car door after Stiles had opened it just a few seconds before.

“Anytime,“ Stiles had replied honestly, fixing his eyes on Derek’s. They had looked at each other for a few moments, staying completely silent while taking in the other man’s expression. Stiles’ eyes had flickered over Derek’s face, studying his features, taking in as many little aspects about the man as he could get before the moment faded.

Derek had done the same though and he’s been taking his time doing so. It’s been mesmerising to see Derek’s eyes up this close, to see the dozens of little dots in a green sea that’s as rich as a meadow in springtime.

For a few fleeting moments, their eyes had locked and everything around Stiles went fuzzy, getting in synch with the butterflies in his stomach and the shivers all over his skin as if an army of a thousand ants marched over it. Neither Derek nor Stiles had seemed to have dared to look away, maybe not even allowing themselves to breathe too loud because this was something fragile, a collection of a few fleeting moments that could’ve been disbanded by the slightest disruption.

Eventually, Stiles had made the tiniest step forward, not breaking their gaze and if Stiles has not been mistaken or in a love-struck state of drunkenness, Derek had seemed to have started moving towards him too, breaking their eye contact for the first time only to flick his gaze down towards Stiles’ lips. It had almost felt similar to that one Christmas morning many years ago where Stiles had been so excited that he nearly threw up out of sheer anticipation and joy. Not that he planned to throw up on Derek. Seriously, please please don’t. There’s only so much you can recover from.

There had been a good chance that this was something Stiles’ brain had made up for a good part but maybe it wasn’t, maybe Stiles hasn’t been dreaming and maybe they actually were moving towards each other to do something that…

“Dad!”

Stiles had jerked away from Derek so quickly that he had knocked the back of his head into his jeep, wincing out loudly because _damn_ , that hurt.

“Uh… yeah,” Derek had rasped out before clearing his throat. “Yeah, what is it Scott?”

“The movie is over and we want to start the games now but we can’t because we need a referee. Can you help us,” Scott had smiled at them hopefully, totally oblivious as to what he had just interrupted.

“I uh… guess your expertise is being called for here. I’ll leave you to it now,” Stiles had cleared his throat just like Derek a few seconds earlier.

“Yeah, okay,” Derek had breathed out and Stiles would be damned if that was Derek starting to actually blush. Oh god, talking about torturing a man here.

“Have fun with your party, Scott,” Stiles waved towards Scott again who waved back excitedly, shouting back a ‘Thank you for the cake and for playing!’ while Stiles had gotten into his car.

“You’re welcome,” Stiles had called back, turning back to Derek again. “Have a fun day, too. I guess I’ll see you around then.”

“Yeah,” Derek had replied for the umpteenth time as if this was the only word he knew. “Uh… yeah. Have a safe ride home and greet your dad from me. Thank you for helping out today, you’re a lifesaver,” the other man had said while he closed the door for Stiles before stepping away from the car so Stiles could pull back.

“Anytime,” Stiles had smiled at him, turning on the engine, driving off a few seconds later.

His life has just become one thousand times more complicated. And he had a boner too. Great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter.
> 
> If you have any questions, ideas or constructive criticism, feel free to send a message or a comment my way here or on my [Tumblr](http://possiblywonderful.tumblr.com).


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After that, it feels like Stiles and Derek meet all the time. As if a higher power intertwines their paths every single day. It sounds totally cheesy and maybe even a bit paranoid but how else could Stiles explain running into Derek at the Supermarket _twice_ on _one_ day after he ran into him at Boyd’s bakery the day before? It’s the peak of coincidences that actually are no coincidences, Stiles thinks. But on the following day, he runs into Derek, Marin and Scott when he’s in the forest. The _forest_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last and after an eternity of time passing by, here's chapter two now. I hope you'll enjoy it.

After that, it feels like Stiles and Derek meet all the time. As if a higher power intertwines their paths every single day. It sounds totally cheesy and maybe even a bit paranoid but how else could Stiles explain running into Derek at the Supermarket _twice_ in _one_ day after he ran into him at Boyd’s bakery the day before? It’s the peak of coincidences that actually are no coincidences, Stiles thinks. But on the following day, he meets Derek, Marin and Scott when he’s in the forest. The _forest_. From then on, Stiles simply doesn’t ask any questions anymore. He just accepts that whatever higher power there is might as well have their way and he’s just on the accepting, receiving end.

Which is also why Stiles is not awfully surprised when he hears Scott cheer out his name and sees him running towards him when he’s in the bookstore in town three days after he ran into Derek and Scott at the gas station.

“Fancy running into you, buddy,” Stiles grins and drops his bag so he can pick up Scott and throw him over his head. Scott giggles out his unique infectious laugh.

“Stiles,” Derek’s warm voice floods Stiles’ body, causing him to put Scott down even though the boy eagerly pleads to be thrown into the air once more. “So we meet again,” Derek smiles.

“Yeah,” Stiles returns Derek’s smile. “Hey, Marin.”

“Hello, Stiles,” Marin says, smiling too and even though Stiles is still wary about seeing Derek and her together, he returns the smile nevertheless.

A few seconds of silence fall over them and Stiles already feels his awkward-senses tingling when Scott asks him what he’s doing in the bookshop and if he’s also buying a present for Uncle Peter. Seriously, this kid saved him so many times by now, he deserves at least ten awards.

“I’m not by any chance buying a present for your Uncle Peter,” Stiles grins and bops his finger onto the tip of Scott’s nose, making the boy giggle-grin at him. “I’m picking up new books for me to read since I’m finished with my last ones and if there’s one great truth in life it’s that one should never be without a good book to read,” Stiles says and it’s two thirds earnest and one third playful.

Scott nods solemnly. Derek and Marin grin, watching their son.

“Well,” Stiles claps his hands after yet another few seconds of silence between them. “I guess you’ve got a present to pick. I don’t want to keep you from that.”

“You’re not,” Derek shakes his head slightly after Scott dashes off with a quick ‘see you later, Stiles’, followed by Marin who says she better supervise what Scott’s picking out unless Peter fancies getting the newest edition of Scott’s favourite wolf colouring book.

“I’d love to get that colouring book. Don’t know why Peter would complain,” Stiles grins goofily while he fishes out one of the books he’d been eyeing before Scott popped up.

“Peter wouldn’t complain. He’d smile charmingly while he secretly plots his vicious revenge.” Derek snorts out a laugh, causing Stiles to smile again even though there’s the faintest, nearly invisible touch of sarcasm in Derek’s voice.

“We’ll probably get him yet another one of those boring, over-designed books on modern architecture in Eastern Pasadena or so. He’s into that kind of thing,” Derek grins and Stiles can’t tell if he’s being serious or if Derek’s actually joking.

Derek must sense that. Because a moment later he grins even wider and Stiles considers putting his sunglasses on.

“No, he actually enjoys that stuff. A few weeks back, there’s been an entire modern architecture themed day on the Discovery Channel. For a bit, I feared he’d fall into an excitement-induced coma,” Derek laughs and Stiles can’t help but snort out a laugh too even though he’s never met said uncle Peter.

He’s laughing because Derek’s got the same infectious laugh as Scott does and Stiles hopes he’ll never be present when the two of them have a laughing fit. Well, actually he’d love to be but admitting that to himself would only induce mental images popping up in his mind and he can’t have that right now. Not when the man he’s fantasising over is standing right in front of him.

“Well, I mean uh…,” Stiles looks for something to say that won’t make fun of Peter because even though Derek’s obviously mocking his uncle a bit, Stiles doesn’t know if he’s doing it for fun or if he’s being earnest. “At least he’s got something he’s passionate about, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Derek answers and still grins a bit, but doesn’t say anything further.

“Anything else you’re getting here or just the present,” Stiles asks in hopes of not letting the conversation fall flat.

“I promised to get Scott a book. But it’ll be quick since we already know which one it’ll be.”

“C’mon, don’t leave me hanging here,” Stiles whines playfully, causing Derek to grin.

“It’s the second Harry Potter. We finished the last one two weeks ago or so and he’s craving to read the new one so I promised him to get it today,” Derek smiles contently.

“Oh lord, Harry Potter. I must admit I’m a bit jealous that Scott gets to read them for the first time. I wish I could do that. Like, reset my memory and read it again. I mean, not that I’m not rereading them every year in various orders anyway but it’s different when you read them for the first time and I’m totally losing myself in this now, aren’t I,” Stiles nervously rubs the back of his neck and shoots Derek a small grin.

Derek shakes his head though, waving it off with his hand. “You are but it’s cool. I love talking about books and I love Harry Potter.”

Stiles might’ve just popped a spontaneous boner. There are so many fan related things shooting through his mind right now, hundreds of questions he wants to ask Derek.

“Which house,” is what he settles for instead though. We don’t want to scare the boy away now do we?

“Gryffindor,” Derek says and Stiles can totally see that. If Derek and him would be together, he’d shower him with geeky presents like a Gryffindor scarf or Gryffindor mittens or Gryffindor house badges or… He needs to stop.

“How about you,” Derek asks, pulling Stiles from his imaginary dream future with the man standing in front of him.

“Totally a proud Ravenclaw. All the way through,” Stiles preens and his chest swells with pride. He’s always been passionate about stuff like this and he’s not even sorry if people call him a geek. He never really cared.

“Nice,” Derek nods and looks content, as if Stiles being a Ravenclaw actually pleases him. “I’m glad Scott enjoys it as much. I don’t think I would’ve coped all that well if he would’ve disliked Harry Potter. That would’ve been a low blow,” Derek chuckles and Stiles melts into a puddle of goo. Firstly because Derek should be prohibited from chuckling. It’s too much to take, if anyone asks Stiles. And secondly because Derek seems to care about Harry Potter for a great deal which is an absolute fool proof way to have Stiles booked on your couch for three consecutive nights, talking about all things Harry Potter.

“Aww man, I know. But he seems to be picking up on it great. Do you read it to him or does he read himself? Or are you more the audio book type? Which is totally fine because the audio books are _great_. Listened to them several times even though I must admit I prefer Fry over Dale. I don’t know, Dale is great but Fry’s so much more….,” Stiles trails off, looking for the best word to describe it when Derek speaks up again.

“I know. I prefer Fry over Dale too,” he nods solemnly. “Can’t pinpoint why. Even though I like a few of Dale’s character voices better than Fry’s,” Derek admits and Stiles honest to god _screeches_ out a ‘yes’.

“I love his Hermione voice. And… just. Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone share my opinion on this,” Stiles beams at Derek and if he could, he’d kiss him for it. He’d pretty much kiss him for anything else too but this just made his attraction to Derek skyrocket by another thousand. Not that he wasn’t already falling hard for the other man. Now it turns out he’s also as much a geek as Stiles himself and Stiles really needs to stay rational here or else he’ll find himself in front of his computer, looking for wedding venues once he’s home later.

“Me neither. But to be fair, I don’t get the chance to talk about Harry Potter that often with grownups and Scott shares my opinion so we’ve already discussed it multiple times,” Derek tells him, smiling fondly and Stiles can see how he’s reminiscing those conversations a bit right now.

“Then you know the wrong grownups. Or you know the right ones but need to create more chances to talk about it because, c’mon, it’s Harry Potter,” Stiles looks at him earnestly.

“I know, I know,” Derek laughs. “But see, I’m making progress since we just talked about it for a good chunk.”

“Means I’m a right grownup then, I guess,” Stiles smirks.

He didn’t expect Derek to answer with “you definitely are” as easily and as determined as he does. It throws him off a bit, but in a good way.

He knows how he usually reacts to these kinds of compliments. Cheeks lighting up with a flush of red, him saying something awkward from time to time and stumbling his way through a good part of the following conversation.

This time though, he wants to make sure he does it differently. So he goes for a simple “Thank you. You are too,” instead and it goes off flawlessly. No stumbling, no awkwardness, just a little blush and a smile but he can handle that.

“Thank you,” Derek replies and they fall silent. A good kind of silent though. A content one.

This time, it’s Derek who’s the first one to speak up again by announcing he’ll head back to the front of the store. “I’ll best catch Scott unless he piles up twenty books he wants to buy for himself because he’s too excited to read them. Not that I don’t want him to but….”

“Oh, yeah. True. I’m the same like that but I, unlike Scott, have no one to restrain me. But luckily, it’s not a bad way to spend your money so I don’t awfully regret it, really,“ Stiles laughs, throwing a glance towards his pile of books in the small wooden basket by his feet.

“Definitely,” Derek agrees and nods, putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “It’s been great talking to you, Stiles. I hope we get the chance to continue discussing Harry Potter.”

“I’ll be the last one to keep us from it,” Stiles winks. It’s not like he’s not shocked at his own behaviour but he also knows it’s a futile effort to keep himself from doing stuff like this. It’ll only pile up until it’ll break out of him eventually and the more he’s got piled up, the more embarrassing the situation will be. By now, Stiles is fairly sure he’s embracing his quirky flirtatious side just fine and is dealing with it well. And so far, Derek hasn’t run away screaming yet, now has he?

“Good to know,” Derek crinkles his eyes and lingers for another second, shooting Stiles a look that makes shivers run down his spine, before he turns around and heads back to the front of the shop.

Stiles gets his phone out, making a note in his to-do list that reads _activate Firefox block on all things wedding related_ before he turns back to the shelf.

 

~*~

 

It’s about one week later when Stiles is sitting at one of the tables in his shop, face resting in his hands. It’s late already, around eleven in the night but he has no intentions to go home. He came here for a reason and that is to get away from everything. His shop is a safe haven for Stiles, just like his apartment is and in times like these, Stiles needs a place to go to where he knows he can tune out the world, where he is able to focus and to think. And this time, the place he needs to be is not his apartment but his shop.

His dad has been hospitalised last night. By now, it turned out that it’s nothing serious and that they’re just keeping him there to observe him one or two days more and to take some tests.

But the shock’s still there, sits deep in Stiles’ chest and lays heavy on his heart. The moment he got the call from the hospital, being told that his dad had a minor stroke, keeps replaying in his head over and over and over again. It’s like a vicious cycle and it drains him like nothing else could because it doesn’t let go of him. The ice cold grip it has on his heart doesn’t lessen and some terrifying thoughts don’t leave his mind ever since he found out.

Just like he did in the last twenty-four hours, Stiles is starting to drift off deeply into his thoughts when a knock on the shop door resounds. He looks up to find Derek standing outside, hands in his pockets and a concerned expression on his face.

Stiles sighs and rubs his hand over his face before he gets up from where he was sitting, making his way over to the door to unlock it.

“Hey,“ Derek says when the door opens. “I don’t want to annoy you but I saw you sitting there in the dim and you looked… sorry, I don’t want to impose, I guess I just wanted to check if you are okay.”

“I… thanks,“ Stiles says heavily, a bit at a loss for what to say. The things with his dad and him are not a light topic, definitely not something you just load onto someone you don’t know that well. Nevertheless, Stiles speaks up again after a few seconds. “Wanna come in,“ he asks and makes way so Derek could, if he wanted to, step inside.

“If it’s okay with you,“ Derek says with a questioning tone in his voice, waiting for Stiles to give him another reassurance that it really is okay to come in. Stiles simply nods and makes his way towards the back of the store to fetch two glasses of water, leaving Derek with the task to close the door behind him.

When he returns, Derek is standing in the middle of the shop, seemingly a bit unsure of what to do. “Please. Have a seat,“ Stiles nods to the table where he’d been sitting before Derek knocked.

“Thanks”, Derek mumbles and pulls one of the chairs opposite of Stiles back and sits down. Stiles follows his gesture after turning the light up a bit and sits back down too, grabbing one of the glasses to drink. As if he’s still at a loss, Derek does the same and drinks a few gulps before he puts the glass back down silently.

Stiles doesn’t really find it in him to speak up just yet. What would there be to say for him anyway? _Hey, dad had a stroke and now I’m falling into this giant pit of anxiousness and feel like a panic attack sits in my neck and waits to happen every second but let’s not talk about me, how was your day?_ That would go down incredibly smooth.

But no matter how heavy the silence is, Derek seems to give Stiles the time he needs to speak up. Or maybe he doesn’t expect him to say anything at all. Maybe he’s just here to be around, thinking that having company already makes things better. And the more Stiles thinks about it, the more he finds that it actually makes things better. The deafening voices in his mind quiet down a little and the weight on his chest is being lifted by a bit. It’s not much but it’s enough to give Stiles the amount of air to breathe that he felt has been missing ever since he’d gotten the call last night.

“It’s my dad”, Stiles starts after endless moments of silence. “He had a stroke.”

Derek inhales sharply. “Stiles, I’m so sorry. If there’s anything I can do, please tell me.”

“Thanks”, Stiles answers. “He’ll be fine. It was a minor stroke, he’ll be out of the hospital the day after tomorrow and they say he’ll be back to normal in no time but I…” He stops mid-sentence, running a hand over his face for the umpteenth time tonight. He feels his throat tighten in the tell-tale way that happens when you’re about to cry. It’s not like it hasn’t been building up but the last thing Stiles wants right now is to cry in front of Derek.

Once more, Derek remains silent though, giving Stiles time to sort out his thoughts, not pushing him in the slightest. Most people would’ve tried to get out of here as fast as possible to avoid this intense encounter or would’ve said the most ridiculous things just to avoid silence. What are you supposed to say to someone you don’t know well at all and who’s clearly miserable because his dad just had a stroke? Right, not much for most people. There are very few who manage to say or do just the right thing in these kinds of situations, who manage to be soothing and comforting even though they don’t know the other person as good as a friend would. Derek seems to be one of those people.

“I just…,“ Stiles swallows heavily. “When the nurse called and told me that my dad was in the hospital because he had a stroke, it felt like I lost my ground, as if all the air was punched out of my lungs.”

“I can imagine,“ Derek says quietly. “It is one of the most horrible things you can imagine. I think it’s normal to feel that way.”

“I felt so helpless and I… I didn’t know what to do. All I could think of was how…. Was how my life would be if my dad would’ve…” Stiles swallowed again, vainly trying to gulp down the lump in his throat, feeling the tell-tale burning in his eyes growing stronger every passing second. The thought of his dad dying passed his mind more than once but he never voiced it out because saying it out loud would make it real, would turn it into a possibility.

Another few seconds pass until Derek carefully lays his hand on top of Stiles’ in a gesture of comfort and silent support. Stiles’ initial reaction is to pull away but then, he doesn’t. He doesn’t because a wave of relief rushes over him, as if a weight is being lifted off his shoulders, telling him that he’s not alone in this. He _knows_ he’s not alone in this. He’s got his friends and his dad’s friends and colleagues that won’t hesitate a second to help him but nevertheless, Stiles felt lost in the last few hours. More than he would’ve thought.

Perhaps, it wasn’t even a conscious decision to not call the others yet. Maybe Stiles wanted to keep them away from it for a little while longer so he can process everything that’s been happening, wrapping his mind around the idea that his dad could’ve died no matter how minor the stroke was. All Stiles knows is that he didn’t call anyone and that Derek maybe kind of saved him tonight. Because, inevitably, the moment in which Stiles would’ve broken down would’ve come, probably rather sooner than later. He’s got a history of panic attacks and in a situation this grave, it’s more or less bound to happen in some shape or form and Stiles doesn’t know how he would’ve pulled himself out of it this time.

But Derek pulled him out, not the entire way out of it but most definitely some part of it. And he did it by just being there, by just offering his comfort and his time. It’s hard for Stiles to put his finger on what exactly it was and how it came about but from the very beginning on, there’s been a trust for Derek inside of him that’s highly unusual since Stiles normally needs time to trust someone thoroughly. It’s not that he trusted Derek with all he has from the very first time he met him. It’s more of a certain feeling that he can trust Derek because he felt some sort of connection to him and not just the (very obvious) attraction.

And despite how much Stiles tries not to cry, a tear rolls down his cheek nevertheless. He roughly wipes at it with the sleeve of his shirt, hoping dearly that Derek didn’t notice but that hope’s lost as Derek squeezes his hand a few seconds later.

“I’m sorry,“ Stiles mumbles while he rubs his sleeve over his eyes again. “You probably had better plans for tonight.”

“I don’t and I’m glad I came by. I don’t want you to be alone in this”, Derek says. “Even though we don’t know each other that well and your friends may be better suited for this.”

“You’re doing pretty well, if you ask me”, Stiles smiles a small smile, despite the emotional turmoil he’s in.

“That’s good”, Derek answers with a smile of his own. For a moment, they keep quiet again but the silence is not as heavy anymore, now that a bit of the thunderous tension was lifted from Stiles’ shoulders.

After a while, Derek’s the first one to speak up again. “Do you need help with the shop or someone to fill in for you?”

“Everything’s settled for now. Thanks for asking though,“ Stiles says and reaches for the glass in front of him to drink something.

“Okay, but please don’t hesitate to ask. It’s okay to ask for help, especially when something like this happens.”

Stiles nods in return. “I’m just glad my dad’s okay. Everything else will work out on its own, I guess.”

“It will, I’m sure. And you guys have people to help you if things get a bit rougher, timewise I mean”, Derek reassures him.

“Yeah…,“ Stiles mumbles. “But I don’t want to keep you up any longer. It’s late already and you’ll probably want to get home to Scott,“ he says while he gets up from the chair, reluctantly letting go of Derek’s hand but the faint feeling of the other man’s hand on his own lingers for a little while longer.

“Scott’s at my parent’s house tonight anyway. I can stay with you or give you a ride home if you’d like”, Derek offers tentatively while he gets up too.

“Uh… thanks but I’ll just stay here for a while longer and uh… uh…” Stiles looks around himself, trying to figure out what exactly it is he’s looking for. He’s not even sure what keeps him here. Maybe it’s only because he doesn’t know where else to go. He fears home would feel void somehow, his father’s house is out of question and, as peculiar as it may seem, he doesn’t want to go to any of his friends’ homes. But he is tired as hell and he knows he should rest.

“You look pretty exhausted. Of course it’s up to you but I think you should really get some sleep,” Derek says with a bit of hesitation.

“Yeah, I know, I am totally punched. It’s just that I fear that as soon as I try to fall asleep, my mind starts to wander again.”

“I can relate, it was the same when my sister fell sick. It helped me to take a walk and get some fresh air,” Derek says and stops for a few seconds before he continues to speak. “We could take a walk together, if you’d like.”

Stiles’ first instinct is to decline but upon further consideration, he decides against it and nods. He shouldn’t be driving anymore anyway, he’s too tired. And maybe Derek’s right, maybe it will clear his head a bit. “If it’s okay with you.”

“It is. I wouldn’t have suggested it if it weren’t,” Derek smiles and takes a few steps towards the door. “We could walk to my car a few blocks away from here and I could give you a ride home from there.”

“No, I don’t want to strain your welcome any further. I don’t live that far from here, it’s alright,“ Stiles says before he gathers his things to put them into his bag. He shuts off the lights and closes down the door to the storage room and shuts down all the still opened drawers behind the counter in passing.

“Geesh, Stiles. Stop worrying about you straining my welcome or taking up my time or any of that. First of all, I like spending time with you and secondly, I’m glad I can help. And, besides, you planned, baked and decorated not one but two downright awesome cakes for Scott in less than a day and singlehandedly saved the party. I owe you big time anyway.”

“You don’t owe me anything. Let’s just agree that no one owes anyone anything,” Stiles smiles. It surprises him that it’s much easier than he thought it would be. The smiling, that is. Feeling slightly happy despite his father’s condition. But maybe it’s what being around Derek does to him right now. It helps him to get a bit of distraction from his sorrow and eases his mind because it’s easy for Stiles to forget himself around Derek. The other man captures his attention seemingly without effort, be it for his already strong presence around others or because of Stiles’ moon-sized crush on him.

“Okay,” Derek chuckles a little and steps out of the shop.

Stiles follows suit, turning around to lock the door and pull down the grilles. All the while, Derek stands beside him, waiting quietly for Stiles to finish up. “Done,” Stiles says after a few moments.

“Good,” Derek smiles at him and starts walking towards the rough direction of where his car must be parked, his hands casually in the pockets of his jeans.

For a few long moments, they fall into a more or less comfortable silence, walking alongside each other through the completely empty streets of the suburb Stiles’ shop is located in. Stiles has always considered the silence falling upon the city late at night to be calming yet somehow eerie too.

“How long has your dad been working as a sheriff now,” Derek asks as they round a corner, walking down another street close to the edge of the forest.

Stiles thinks about it. His dad once told him that he started working as a deputy when he was 19 which is now over 30 years ago but Stiles has never asked him when exactly he was promoted to being the sheriff. All he knows is that it was pretty quick compared to the usual timespan it takes to be promoted to that position.

Stiles must’ve fallen quiet, being lost in his thoughts for a bit too long because Derek speaks up again, an apologetic tone in his voice. “I’m sorry, I should not have addressed this topic right now. I’m sor…”

“No, no. Sorry, no, that one’s on me. I, uh, sometimes get a bit lost in my own thoughts,” Stiles rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “I don’t know the exact amount of years but definitely more than 15 years by now.”

“That’s great,” Derek nods, looking at Stiles from the side. “Why did you go to Beacon Hills to open your shop? Was there any particular reason?”

“Business, mostly. I grew up two towns away from here and things over there are a bit smaller and I wasn’t 100% sure if my shop would be running as well as here. Of course, I wasn’t sure about anything in the beginning but I just figured I’d have better possibilities here. And most of my friends are working and living in Beacon Hills too so that was also a pro. And it’s not far from home.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Derek says.

“Yeah. And I found this charming little shop and fell in love with it and saw that it was for sale and that was it I guess,” Stiles shrugs, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“No wonder. It’s a great store. You really made the best out of it,” Derek says, looking at him again.

“Thanks,” Stiles mumbles and smiles to himself. It always fills him with joy when people like what he created. He would love it nevertheless without these compliments but they are, in some way, the icing on the cake. “How did you come around doing what you… uh, do? The woodworking, I mean.”

“That was never really a question for me. I kind of always knew what I wanted to do for a living. I love nature and I love working with my hands, feeling the wood under my fingers and how I can shape anything I want from a piece of wood. It’s magical and I didn’t regret going in that direction once,” Derek explains fondly and his face practically lights up when he’s talking about his. Stiles could watch him like this for hours.

“I’d love to see one of your pieces someday,” Stiles confesses and he really does. He wants to see what Derek loves so much and what he creates. Stiles wants to get to know more about Derek in general. About what his day-to-day life looks like, what his life with Scott looks like, who his friends are, what kind of hobbies Derek has, what movies he likes, what music he listens to while driving. All these little details are things Stiles would love to find out about Derek, in an absolutely non-stalker kind of way, of course. It’s a completely normal thing to have an interest in the things the person you’re crushing on does and likes, Stiles figures and they’re the small things that make up the big something.

But above all, Stiles doesn’t want to force anything since scaring Derek away because Stiles has been too curious for his own good would be the last thing he wants. Especially after tonight where he saw another, very gentle and even more considerate side of Derek. A side that made him fall for the other man even deeper for the simple reason that Derek seemed to care about Stiles in some deeper way too. And for wanting to find out more about Derek since Stiles was fairly sure that there was a lot more about him than meets the eye.

“Just come by my workshop anytime you want. I’ll show you around,” Derek smiles.

“I will. Where is it?”

“Right beside my house. We built it a while after we finished the house Scott and I are living in. It’s practically right beside my parents’ house.”

“What made you stay there,” Stiles asks curiously.

“I like it out there. The forest is calming and I like living in the nature. Scott can run around as much as he likes and he’s close to his grandparents and at least two other family members because there’s always someone around,” Derek explains.

“Did you build the house for you, Marin and Scott,” Stiles asks carefully because he knows that he’s entering a difficult topic even though Derek made it absolutely clear Marin and him are not a thing anymore, nothing more than friends.

“No,” Derek shakes his head. “It was built after Marin left. I wanted to stay close to home so Scott has a firm family structure around him and I like being there too, obviously.”

“It’s probably good for him to have that much space to run around and play on. I mean, he really is a very awake and energetic kid,” Stiles hums. “And it’s good to have a firm family structure around you. No matter what that structure looks like.”

“It’s good. Especially after Marin and I broke up. It was good to have my family close. They helped with many things. Luckily, we didn’t have a nasty break up but something’s missing either way when you’ve got a kid and your relationship changes so fundamentally,” Derek sighs out but, thankfully, he doesn’t sound distressed. Maybe more wistful or reminiscent.

“I’m sorry. Well, you get what I mean. Breaking up sucks most of the time”, Stiles says, hugging his arms around himself. It is getting quite cold in the nights here now since they’re heading into autumn at a brisk pace and Stiles, being in a mental mess throughout the last few days, left the house without a jumper or a jacket to put on. It’s not far till they get to Derek’s car and until Stiles will be home though so he’ll just tough it out.

“It does but it can also be a relief for both parties involved. That was the case for Marin and me at least,” Derek says while shrugging off his jacket. Stiles looks at him bemused when Derek steps towards him and holds out his jacket to Stiles. “Here.”

“Uh…,” Stiles utters eloquently and looks from Derek’s outstretched arm back to his face.

“I can see you shivering from two towns over. Take the jacket, Stiles,” Derek insists again and holds the jacket even closer.

“Nah, it’ll take a while till I get warm and in that time, you’ll get cold too so in the end, we’ll both be cold and there’s no use in tha…. hey!” Stiles protests but before he can really act on it, Derek has already put the jacket over Stiles’ shoulders.

“I’m not getting cold that easily. My mom’s joking sometimes that I must have my own heating system hidden somewhere in my body because I have a hard time freezing. Can’t find it in me to complain though,” Derek smirks and shoves his hands in his pockets again.

Stiles can’t help but to smile too because Derek’s jacket indeed _is_ really warm and comfortable. “Lucky you. I’m always freezing as soon as the temperatures drop below, let’s say, fifteen degrees Celsius.”

“Then you need someone to keep you warm,” Derek smiles, not averting his gaze from Stiles for one second.

Stiles, on the other hand, holds his breath because this? This is definitely not platonic teasing anymore. This is very deep into the area of flirting already and he’s got about two options now. Joining in on the flirting and by that, allowing his piled up feelings for Derek to flow freely or say something polite but dismissive which would probably shut down any kind of approach on Derek’s side for all eternity.

“Yeah? Do you have anyone in mind,” Stiles asks, his heart in his throat and his voice is so quiet, he’s not sure Derek can even hear it.

“I think I do,” Derek says just as quietly and when his eyes dart down to Stiles’ lips, Stiles is 99% sure he’s only a few seconds away from screaming in excitement. The air around them seems to be so charged with expectations and hesitation that they could maybe even grasp it with their hands. Stiles himself lets his eyes wander down to and over Derek’s lips for a second and the want in him gets so overwhelming that he’s getting dizzy.

But because this is also Stiles’ life, Derek’s phone starts ringing in his pocket just when he was about to lean forward too. If there’s a god, he’s made it his personal mission to ruin Stiles’ love life. Thanks.

Derek himself groans in annoyance and looks even more pissed off when he sees who’s calling him. “You do realise it’s nearly midnight, now do you,” he grumps out after picking up. “What? Even if I usually go to bed rather late, that doesn’t give you the permission to call that late unless it’s som….”

Stiles stands awkwardly beside Derek, trying hard to not look like he’s eavesdropping. He totally is though, it’s not like he can help it. And he’s insanely curious about who called but when Derek’s expression changes from slightly annoyed to concerned, Stiles changes his mind. He doesn’t really wanna know. He can’t handle any more bad news for at least a few weeks to come.

“Yeah, no. That’s uh…. that’s fine. I’ll pick you up,” Derek replies after listening to the person on the phone for a while. “Will you manage with the flight? … Okay… Okay, see you then. Be careful. Yeah.. Bye.” He hangs up and lets out a deep sigh, rubbing a hand over his face.

Stiles is hesitant to speak up first but does so anyway. “Is uh… is everything alright? You sounded worried.”

“Marin broke her arm and asks if she can crash at my place for two or three weeks because she can’t really do all that much on her own right now,” Derek sighs out and puts his phone back in his back pocket.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I hope she’ll be fine.” Stiles does hope she’ll be fine again but that doesn’t mean he’s not dreading the weeks of her staying at Derek’s house. Derek won’t have to babysit her, she won’t be completely helpless but Derek won’t have the time and maybe even the mindset to deal with what is going on between Stiles and him at the moment. Because if Marin wouldn’t have called, who knows what would’ve happened just a minute ago since Derek is, apparently, not as uninterested as Stiles thought he was.

“Yeah, she’ll be fine. Like I said, she just won’t be able to do the things she usually does in the first two or three weeks so she’ll be staying with us. Because apparently, we’re a hotel,” Derek grumps out.

“I thought you were friends,” Stiles wonders out loud before he really thinks about what exactly he’s saying. “Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“No, don’t worry,” Derek cuts him off. “We _are_ friends and I’m fine with her staying at our place. Scott will be over the moon. It’s just that… she always had a tendency of doing things the way she wanted to do them. Determined and headstrong, that is. The only time I really saw her hesitating and overthinking something for a longer time was when we broke up and she decided to leave despite Scott being here.”

“So she’s more the, uh… decisive type, I guess,” Stiles says and starts to walk again. Derek follows suit and falls into a comfortable pace beside Stiles.

“You could say that,” Derek snorts. “It used to drive me crazy and I was, at one point, insanely mad at her for leaving Scott. Not so much me because our break-up was mutual but because she left her son behind.”

“That is pretty harsh. I mean…,” Stiles shrugs. “I couldn’t leave my kids behind. Ever. Well, I know, never say never but there is not really one possible scenario I can think of that would make me leave my kids behind.”

“Yeah,” Derek whispers, looking at Stiles from the side. Stiles sees it out of the corner of his eyes but chooses not to return the gaze.

“But she must’ve had her reasoning, right,” Stiles asks carefully, full on aware that this obviously is a sensitive topic.

“She did. And I think that’s what upset me the most. That I could understand why she did it and the reasons she gave me. She got pregnant at the end of college and was hired and about two weeks away from starting to work as a dancer in New York. It was a huge deal and we were all super happy and then we found out that she’s pregnant. It was….,” Derek pauses and Stiles can practically see the memories flashing in front of Derek’s eyes. “It was tough.”

“I can imagine,” Stiles nods.

“Sorry. I, uh… I didn’t mean to load this on you,” Derek says remorsefully and rubs a hand over the back of his neck.

“Oh no no, by all means, you don’t. I’m glad you’re telling me. Not that I need to know, I mean, as in it’s pretty private but I’m glad that you’re telling me. I really am. And I was the one who asked,” Stiles rushes to explain and does turn to look at Derek this time. He’s met with a smile and a look that’s many things but, above all, glad.

“After a while I saw what she meant when she said that it’s for the best. Marin is someone who loves family and loves the people around her dearly but she needs to keep moving and she needs to go and chase after her dreams because otherwise, she’ll be desperately unhappy. I experienced it once and she was miserable and… she wouldn’t have been a good mom for Scott like that. No, sorry, that was a shitty way of saying it. She would’ve been an awesome mom, I know she would’ve been, but there’s only so much you can do and be when your heart is so heavy and you long to be somewhere else half of the time. And that we broke up didn‘t make things easier.”

Stiles nods in understanding again. “You give it your all but you’re out of powers so easily… yeah, I can understand.”

“And she actually managed to be home very often and see Scott and be a mom for him. In her very own way. And Scott loves her and she loves him and everything’s turned out pretty well I think,” Derek shrugs as if there was not a doubt in his mind that Scott could not have had a better life.

“There are all sorts of families nowadays and just because the mom is there less often or you have two dads or you live with your grandparents, it doesn’t make any of it less fulfilled or less happy. Every form of family is still, well, family. There’s no better or worse. It’s family.” Stiles thinks of his own family. Of how much he missed his mother every single day but how his dad managed to still give him the feeling of safety, comfort, home and family without her being there. It was still family, in the end.

Derek nods and once more looks at Stiles from the side and this time, Stiles returns the gaze only to see Derek looking at him so intently that it nearly sweeps him off his feet. He’s really having one hell of a situation.

“Have you ever thought about getting back together? Sorry if I’m being too pushy,” Stiles asks after a moment.

“Every now and then, after we broke up. I sometimes think about what our lives would be like if we were still together.”

Stiles would be lying if the wistful tone in Derek didn’t pierce through his heart a bit. “Do you want to get back together? You sound a little like you… like you want to.”

But Derek already shakes his head while Stiles is still talking. “No. No, I really don’t. By now, I know that what I longed for back then was the idea of us, of what we could be or could’ve been instead of wanting to actually be with Marin. It would not have worked out and it wasn’t what I wanted. Still isn’t.”

Stiles hums understandingly, adjusting the strap of his bag. Before he can answer though, Derek rounds a corner and steps towards a silver Toyota. “That’s us,” he says and unlocks the car with his key.

“Huh,” Stiles chuckles amusedly.

“What,” Derek asks him over the top of his car.

“Never deemed you a Toyota kinda guy,” Stiles smirks.

“No? What kinda guy did you think I am,” Derek asks, smiling back at him.

“Hm…,” Stiles muses for a second. “More the… Chevrolet kinda guy. You know, like one of those Camaros or so. That would be _the_ car for you, dude.”

“Yeah? Well thanks but please promise me to never tell Scott about it. I won’t see the end of his begging and pleading.”

“Scott seems to have a good taste in cars then, I see,” Stiles says while getting into the car after Derek has sat down onto the driver’s seat himself.

“He does. But if you’d let Scott decide, we’d drive a Camaro the one day and the other day, a full-grown elephant. He’s not the most decisive person when it comes to vehicles. And before you ask, yes, an elephant can be a vehicle at times. Believe me, Scott and I had a long talk about this where he elaborated all the reasons why.” Derek’s smile turns fond as if the mere memory of it warms him from the inside. It’s ridiculously cute and Stiles could jump him right there.

It’s also the moment in which Stiles realises that Derek finding him in his shop tonight was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to him. He managed to let go of so much tension, manage to actually laugh, despite his dad being in the hospital and all, everything thanks to Derek. What hits him most though is the realisation about how easy, how effortless it was for Derek to calm Stiles, to take his mind off things and how fast Stiles relaxed around him.

As of tonight, it’s not a crush anymore. Stiles is legitimately falling in love with Derek. Shit.

“Hey, you okay?” Derek’s voice tunes in and Stiles thinks he must’ve zoned out for a few seconds over realising the decision his mind and heart have made for him. Thanks guys. No really, thanks.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just really tired, that’s all,” he says and fastens his seatbelt, leaning towards the other man a bit.

“You’ll be home in ten minutes max,” Derek assures him while shooting Stiles another smile before he starts the car.

“Thanks for driving me home anyway. You really didn’t have to do that.”

“Anytime,” Derek replies and looks at him for a long second before pulling over onto the street.

They’re quiet for the rest of the drive apart from Stiles telling Derek the directions to his apartment. He feels how his bones and eyelids are getting heavy and how his body aches to get to sleep after he’s been kept from it for the better part of two days now.

True to his word, Derek parks in front of the house Stiles’ apartment is in and turns off the car before he looks over at Stiles.

“Thanks, man. For uh, for everything tonight. You really saved me here,” Stiles says, looking straight at Derek because even though he avoided his eyes a few times tonight, he wants to make sure Derek knows how thankful he is.

“Anytime,” Derek replies for the second time in the last fifteen minutes. “Thanks for listening to me banter on about my family,” he goes on and looks honest to god apologetic about it.

“Don’t even try to be sorry about it, okay? I’d love to hear more about it some time,” Stiles half interrupts him, giving him a genuine smile.

Which Derek returns wholeheartedly. “Good to know,” he murmurs and looks at Stiles, eyes flickering over his features.

And as much as Stiles would like to stay, maybe even take this a step further, he needs to get into bed and he needs to have a clear head before he acts upon anything.

The realisation that his feelings for Derek turned into something a bit more profound than a crush has hit Stiles pretty hard if he’s being honest and he needs to sleep over it for a night or two. “Thanks again for taking me home. I’ll head to my apartment now, I can already hear my bed calling for me,” Stiles laughs and opens the car door.

“Oh yeah. Now that you say it, I can hear it too,” Derek chuckles.

“I’ll introduce you two sometime,” Stiles replies and oh boy does he have the deep desire to bang his head against the side of Derek’s car now after realising what exactly he just said.

Derek on the other hand chuckles. “Good night, Stiles. And if you need help with anything or even if it’s just someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

“I, uh…. I fear I don’t have your number,” Stiles shrugs awkwardly.

Derek groans and rolls his eyes at himself and it’s incredibly endearing. “Sorry, I’m a bit forgetful sometimes. Do you know your own number,” he asks, already fishing for his phone.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Okay, shoot,” Derek says after he’s unlocked the screen.

Stiles rattles off digit after digit, going slow enough for Derek to type them in. “You can just give me a call and I’ll save your number then.”

“Sure,” Derek smiles. “I’ll see you around,“ he says, lifting his hand in a small wave.

“Yeah, bye. Thank you again,” Stiles answers before he closes the door of the car and hurries up the stairs. He turns around again after stepping inside and before closing the door, only to find Derek’s still there. Of course he’s waiting until Stiles is safe inside the house. Yet again, he has to suppress the urge to slam his head into something solid because how heartwarmingly cute is this guy?

So Stiles waves again before he closes the door and it’s not until he’s already inside his apartment that he notices he hasn’t given Derek his jacket back. Of course.

He makes his way over to one of the front windows in a few, quick strides to see if Derek’s still there but his car is already gone. Stiles muses over it for a moment when he hears his phone vibrate in his bag by the door.

While he shrugs off the jacket he makes his way back to the entrance, carefully hangs it on one of the hooks before he reaches for his bag to get his phone. Unlike what Derek told him, he didn’t call but sent him a text.

 

**From: Unknown Number [00:14]**

Hope you got in fine. Have a good night, Stiles. –D

 

Stiles’ heart flutters a bit upon reading Derek’s text and a bit more because he used his name. He doesn’t let himself crush over it for too long though but saves Derek’s number instead, only thinking about naming him _Future BF_ for 1.25 seconds. He’s a grown-up man after all.

 

**To: Derek [00:16]**

I did. Totally forgot to give you back ur jacket tho. Sry! Stiles

 

**From: Derek [00:19]**

Don’t worry. Just give it back the next time you see me. –D

 

**To: Derek [00:20]**

Will do! Thx for tonight again. Stiles

 

Sadly, he doesn’t get a reply to this one even after five minutes so Stiles figures Derek’s busy getting home or being already on his way to bed. Which is what Stiles should also do now so he makes a beeline for the bathroom to catch a quick shower before he hits the pillows.

When he returns, all clean and warm and fuzzy, sliding into his bed, he lazily checks his phone one last time, just because, only to find a new text message from Derek.

 

**From: Derek [00:39]**

Like I said, anytime. Sleep well, Stiles. –D

 

A small yet excited smile passes over his lips when Stiles puts the phone onto his night stand and he rolls back into the middle of the bed. This morning, it seemed impossible for him to think he’d be lying in bed tonight and not feel horrible, filled with fear and sorrow. He’s still worried about his father and can’t wait to see him again tomorrow, seeing with his own eyes that his dad is indeed fine.

But thanks to Derek, he can rest easier now.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and for your Patience. It's insane how many things have happened in my life since the first chapter has been uploaded. But, despite all that, I'm very happy with how this chapter turned out and I hope you enjoyed it as well. Stay tuned for the next chapter.
> 
> The beta has been done by the lovely Jenny again. Thank you so much, Darling <3
> 
> If you have any comments, questions, ideas or constructive criticism, feel free to send a message or a comment my way here or on my [Tumblr](http://possiblywonderful.tumblr.com).


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s wrong, kiddo?”
> 
> “What? What what’s wrong? Nothing’s wrong,” Stiles answers, confused.
> 
> His dad eyes him conspicuously. “Nothing’s wrong my ass. You’ve been eyeing that phone of yours like a hawk but when it actually dinged when Scott texted you, you jumped about half a meter high from the sofa.”
> 
> “Just didn’t expect a message, is all.”
> 
> Another look from his dad. This guy wasn’t a sheriff for nothing. “You don’t have to tell me, you know. Just know that if you want to talk, I’m here, son.”
> 
> And that’s what breaks the ice. Because his dad saying stuff like this so short after he had a minor stroke just gets Stiles, okay? He just can’t not talk about it with him now. “I kind of met someone.”

The next few days pass by in a rush, with his dad leaving the hospital, organising his medication and a new, even healthier diet. His dad complains about the last point especially but neither Stiles nor Melissa nor any of the other nurses or doctors are having any of it so his dad, eventually, gives in and begrudgingly accepts his fate. Stiles moves back home to his dad for the next two weeks which doesn’t really bother Stiles or his father. On the contrary, he’s glad to be so busy, to be able to not let the realisation sink in that his dad is not as immortal or invincible as he always wanted to believe.

So he spends as much time as possible with him, doing normal things like watching TV, talking about the latest baseball games, cooking dinner for him. Deeply domestic stuff but that’s exactly what Stiles needs at the moment. To be around his dad just like in the old days, talking about random topics, just being a family again. Not that they weren’t a family when Stiles moved out from his dad’s house. In fact, they’ve talked nearly as much as they used, just over the phone or at Stiles’ weekend visits.

It’s one of those nights, three days after his dad left the hospital when they’re sitting on the couch together, watching TV that his dad brings up a topic Stiles hadn't expected at all.

“What’s wrong, kiddo?”

“What? What what’s wrong? Nothing’s wrong,” Stiles answers, confused.

His dad eyes him conspicuously. “Nothing’s wrong my ass. You’ve been eyeing that phone of yours like a hawk but when it actually dinged when Scott texted you, you jumped about half a meter high from the sofa.”

“Just didn’t expect a message, is all.”

Another look from his dad. This guy wasn’t a sheriff for nothing. “You don’t have to tell me, you know. Just know that if you want to talk, I’m here, son.”

And that’s what breaks the ice. Because his dad saying stuff like this so short after he had a minor stroke just gets Stiles, okay? He just can’t _not_ talk about it with him now. “I kind of met someone.”

That, on the other hand, gets his dad’s attention. Or rather, his dad’s _full_ attention. “You did? Who?”

“Uh… can I make use of my right to remain silent? It’s still pretty fresh. No wait, no, sorry. Nothing’s fresh. We’re not even together. I just… like him. A lot?”

His dad studies his features for a long moment and then nods. “As long as he’s good for you. It’s been a long time since Danny and you deserve to be happy, son.” To underline his surety, his dad lays his hand on Stiles’ knee and squeezes it lightly.

“Thanks dad. And right now, being around him makes me happy. It’s this… these butterflies-in-my-tummy feeling that makes me all jittery whenever I talk to him but by now, it feels like it’s not butterflies anymore but giant pterodactyls that roam around my stomach and sometimes threaten to claw their way…”

“Stiles,” his dad interrupts him warningly.

“What?”

“Mental picture.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” Stiles laughs sheepishly. “But the same goes for you. The deserving-to-be-happy thing, I mean,” Stiles winks and pats his dad’s hand.

“What’s that supposed to mean,” the sheriff asks, looking at his son funnily.

“You know damn well what I mean. The way Melissa and you were eyeing each other in the hospital every time you met? Definite love match, daddy o’ mine.”

“Don’t even go there, son. You know damn well I can’t,” his dad says, shaking his head all the way through.

“Ha! You said you can’t but you didn’t say you don’t want to! Gotcha,” Stiles cheers, grinning like a loon.

His dad on the other hand just shakes his head again, but he’s sporting a small, amused smile and that’s that.

Stiles decides to drop the matter for now. He knows that his plan to make Melissa and his dad marry will come true one day. Not so much because his force of will makes it happen but more because his dad and Melissa are head over heels for each other but they haven’t admitted it yet. But there’ll be a time, Stiles is sure.

The two of them stay on the sofa for a little while longer, watching another game of baseball and all the while, Stiles tries really hard not to check his phone every other minute. The thing is that he doesn’t even expect a message from Derek because there’s nothing to talk about right now and he hadn’t sent him a text so there’s nothing Derek could answer. But he’s been jittery ever since Derek gave him his number, like the possibility of a text message is always there _somehow_.

Eventually, his dad decides it’s time for him to get some well-deserved sleep. He claps Stiles’ shoulder when he gets up from the sofa, they wish each other a good night with Stiles telling him to call for him if he needs anything and his dad nodding, like he usually does, before he wishes Stiles a good night again and goes upstairs.

And then it’s just Stiles and the phone.

He does try to concentrate on TV, zapping through channels to find something to lull him into sleepiness, he really does. But the phone’s lying there, looking at him as if it wants to say _send that text you’ve wanted to send for an hour already. Come on, do it. You know you want to, you will feel so much better when you do._

And for all of five minutes, Stiles manages not to yield. But in the end, the voices in his head win so he reaches for his phone, not even sure what to write in the text message to Derek he doesn’t even want to send in the first place. Okay, he does want to but somehow also not. It’s more of a ‘I want to talk to you so bad but I don’t want to be clingy’-thing. Lydia would judge him so much for his behaviour if she’d be here.

He stares at the display for a few, long moments before he starts typing, deleting it again after the first three words already. So he starts again but deletes the text once more. This goes on for about six more text messages until Stiles groans in utter frustration, letting himself fall into the sofa cushion.

It can’t be _that_ hard. Stiles always had a way with words and a thing for talking. It really cannot be that hard to write a simple text message. But love messes with your head is what his mom used to tell him and he guesses it’s true. It’s never happened to him to this extent though which, he thinks, is both good and bad. Good because it means his feelings for Derek are genuine and serious. Bad because his feelings for Derek are serious and he’s got less than zero clue where they’re heading towards.

 

**To: Derek [21:49]**

Hey, hope you’re not freezing too bad w/o your jacket. I will bring it over ASAP. Stiles

 

He doesn’t expect an answer at all and _if_ Derek answers, Stiles is sure it won’t be in the nearer future. Or even before tomorrow. He even curses himself for sending a text so late because what if Derek’s one of those early sleepers and is already in bed? He’s well on his way into a downwards spiral of regret when his phone vibrates a little less than three minutes after he’s sent his text.

 

**From: Derek [21:51]**

Don’t worry, I’m good. It’s not my only jacket and it’s not even too cold these days. Come over whenever you’ve got time. –D

 

Usually, that’d be the end of the conversation for most people but Stiles can’t really convince himself that Derek answered this quick if he wasn’t interested in a little chat. And if Stiles was wrong and Derek was not out to talk some more, well then he could just ignore Stiles’ next text.

 

**To: Derek [21:53]**

Aww, your jacket must feel a bit left out rn.

 

Stiles actively decides to leave out his name this time because a) Derek has his number saved in his phone and he can see who sends which messages and b) because this feels a lot more personal and that prospect, if he’s being honest, sends a shiver of excitement down his spine.

 

**From: Derek [21:56]**

Tell her not to worry, she’s still my favourite. How’s your dad?

 

And if Stiles is punching his fist into the air, smiling like a complete doofus when Derek replies so fast again and without using his initial too, who’s to see apart from Stiles himself? Exactly, no one.

 

**To: Derek [21:57]**

He’s a lot better, thanks. Has a hard time letting go of the bacon tho. How’s Marin?

 

**From: Derek [22:00]**

I can imagine. Life without bacon is not easy ;) Marin’s alright, she’s taken good care of here and her arm’s healing well.

 

Stiles hasn’t been sure if there’d be anything that could tip him off more than writing text messages with Derek but there is and it’s Derek using smileys in said text messages. It’s ridiculous how this man manages to be drop-dead gorgeous and handsome on the one side and absolutely, irrevocably lovable, caring, sweet and cute on the other. Of course, these weren’t mutually exclusive but they were such a rare combination that Stiles had to lower the phone for a second to take a deep breath.

“Jesus, Stiles, what did you get yourself into here,” he asks himself out loud while he runs a hand over his face.

 

**To: Derek [22:04]**

That’s great. Sorry for texting you so late btw.

 

**From: Derek [22:06]**

It’s fine, I’m glad to hear from you and I’m usually still awake at this time.

 

**To: Derek [22:07]**

So Marin was right, you are not an early sleeper.

 

**From: Derek [22:09]**

I’m not and I don’t need a lot of sleep. Did you catch up on your sleep by now? I hope you did.

 

Stiles halted at this. His instant reaction when he was asked about his condition in times at which he was not okay or not that well, was to shrug it off and say that he was fine. Nothing a good night’s sleep can’t fix. He did that with everybody and only few people could see through it. It’s a thing he started when his mom started to get weaker back then and he didn’t want to worry his parents any further and he didn’t want to risk not being able to go to the hospital because he’s had a nightmare or a headache.

That’s why nowadays, Stiles’ usual reply was ‘I’m fine’ even when he wasn’t really fine. Of course, he doesn’t keep major things from the people close to him but if he’s not been sleeping well for a few days in a row, well that’s another thing. And, deep down, Stiles knows that keeping these things from others is also a bit of an insecurity because he can never quite shut down the small voice at the back of his mind that he’d be a burden and that the others would simply be bothered by it. Intellectually, he knows that that’s absolutely not the case and that the others love him and want him to be happy and alright.

But there were some flings he’s had in the past that made him feel unimportant and used somehow. It’s when Stiles started to build up some barrier of protection around him, despite him being a pretty open and outgoing guy. Over the years, he just got a bit hesitant about really letting people in, telling them about his feelings.

If what he’s dealing with is nothing major, he simply lets it slide and if it would turn into something serious, he wouldn’t keep it to himself any longer, of course. The only people he tells about these smaller kinds of things are Scott and his dad, maybe Isaac by now. Lydia doesn’t need to be told, she just _knows_ these things. Stiles is fairly convinced by now that he’s some sort of higher power. Besides, Stiles is fine with his friends and family knowing, he just doesn’t want them to worry too much. Since that’s what they tend to do.

It’s different with Derek, though. This feeling of ‘I don’t want to worry/bore you with it’ is not there like it is with other people he doesn’t know well. All he’s feeling is that it’s okay to tell Derek because he trusts him. And Derek _did_ tell him that if anything’s up, no matter what it is, Stiles shouldn’t keep it from him and by now, it would feel wrong to lie about this just to create some sort of false protection Derek didn’t ask for in the first place.

 

**To: Derek [22:13]**

I’m still a bit out of it. I guess the shock was bigger than I thought. It’ll be fine in a few days though.

 

Even though he doubts Derek would, he’s still a bit nervous about whether the other man will reply after this rather honest and personal confession about a topic you usually don’t discuss over texts. But his worry is in vain because not even two minutes later, his phone vibrates again, a new message popping up on his screen.

 

**From: Derek [22:14]**

Such things are pretty scary, I can imagine. Do your dad and you want to come over to dinner tomorrow night, if your dad’s condition allows it so you can relax a bit? Unless it’s still too much of course.

 

For a few, blissfully long moments, all Stiles does is flail on the sofa and grin at the ceiling like a Cheshire cat. Intellectually, he knows that this is not a date invitation and by far not Derek trying to flirt. It’s probably a nice and caring gesture and Stiles shouldn’t, no matter what, read too much into it but a man can dream, alright?

And apart from Danny, Stiles has never spent a dinner with a person he’s so truly and irrevocably gone on. Which suddenly makes him nervous because he knows himself and his canonical talent to be all clumsy and embarrassing when it comes to things he _really_ doesn’t want to ruin or spoil. It’s some kind of hardcore version of Murphy’s law when it comes to Stiles.

 

**To: Derek [22:17]**

I will ask dad tomorrow and see how his condition is if that’s okay with you? Don’t wanna impose tho.

 

**From: Derek [22:18]**

Sure, fine by me. And I wouldn’t have suggested if I didn’t mean it, Stiles ;)

 

Another broad smile spreads across his face and he just grins at his phone for a sec before he sends the next text and shuts off the TV. He’s not really paying attention anyway so he might as well go to bed.

 

**To: Derek [22:19]**

Cool. I never took you for the smiley kinda guy btw.

 

**From: Derek [22:22]**

What kinda guy did you take me for then?

 

Great. Stiles’ talent to manoeuvre himself into these totally ambiguous situations deserves an award because, from what it feels like, he’s a true master at it.

While he walks upstairs and into the bathroom to brush his teeth, he contemplates how he can get out of this without sounding overly flattering or cruel. On the one hand, he can’t tell Derek that he found him ridiculously handsome, charming and nice from the first time they met because that would objectify the other man too much. He also can’t really tell him that he thought, or rather thinks, that Derek’s one of the most genuine, kindest and enchanting people he’s ever met since this is absolutely nothing that should be discussed via text.

But texts are also not made for a sarcastic remark because if the revolution of communication technology showed one thing, it is that misunderstandings are a million times more likely to happen when you text/e-mail/Facebook-message someone than they are in real life. Irony and sarcasm without mimic and facial expression? Yeah no, not so much.

Human interaction is already a hardship when you’re face to face with someone but over texts or the internet or whatever other device it may be, you have to think even further ahead since you have to consider all the things the other person could get totally wrong. It’s the last thing you want to see happening with anyone but _especially_ with the person you like.

Which is why it takes Stiles all of fifteen minutes to reply, already lying in bed.

 

**To: Derek [22:37]**

Not enough space in one text to elaborate on that. I’d be glad to explain sometime later tho.

 

Okay, not worthy of a Pulitzer but definitely passable.

 

**From: Derek [22:41]**

Hope that’s a good thing. Lying in bed rn, thinking about what to read. JRR Tolkien or CS Lewis?

 

**To: Derek [22:42]**

It is. First feeling was Lewis so I’d say travel to Narnia.

 

Stiles lowers the phone onto his lap and lets his head fall back against the headboard. Of course Derek would read books that Stiles loves and that are in a genre not strictly everybody likes. It’s a lucky shot to have someone to talk to that shares the passion about something you yourself love.

Danny had been that kind of guy for him and they still geek out over things like the newest Marvel movies or about how awesome the first Hobbit movie was. Derek on the other hand keeps on surprising him and Stiles has got the feeling that there still are so many unexpected things about the other man that just wait to be explored and quite frankly, Stiles could hardly be more excited. If he gets the chance to get to know Derek better, that is.

 

**From: Derek [22:45]**

Good decision. I’m thinking about starting to read it to Scott as bedtime story but I’m not sure if it’s still too early.

 

**To: Derek [22:46]**

Mom read it to me when I was six too and it was fine, I loved it. I think when you’re there with him, it won’t be 2 scary.

 

Stiles smiles upon remembering how his mom and him used to read every night, traveling deep into the enchanted and beautiful world of Narnia and how both of them wanted to just keep reading instead of only doing one chapter per night. He’ll be eternally thankful for many things his mom has taught him but his passion for books and for reading is one of the things he’s the most grateful for.

With books, especially fantasy books like the Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter later on, she gave Stiles a way to flee the world when he felt like he needed to. Before and after she’d passed away. There had been the times when he was very young and even his Adderal couldn’t fix the funny moods he’s had on some days. There’d been only very few things that had truly helped and his mom sitting down to read animatedly from his favourite books was one of those things.

Before she died, his mom had tried to get him used to the idea of listening to audio books when he was too fidgety to actually read them himself and she wouldn’t be around anymore to read to him.

At first, Stiles had refused to even go near one of the CD’s because he wanted no one else to read to him. Part of him knows that that was some way of refusing to take in that his mom was about to leave the world he was in, going somewhere he couldn’t follow. But at some random point when she had already been hospitalised, she said she’s a bit too tired to read a story and why don’t they listen to an audio book? She said she really wanted to try out the Harry Potter books and that’s how Stiles and his mom listened to either Stephen Fry’s or Jim Dale’s voice, taking them into the magical world of Hogwarts every day for a few hours.

And as much as he’d struggled with getting into reading books and listening to audio books without his mom being there in the beginning, now there are few things he cherishes more than books. And if it’s one of the days when missing his mom is getting nearly too hard to handle, he grabs one of the Narnia books or puts on one of the Harry Potter audio books and lets himself be taken away and it almost feels as if his mom is right there with him again. It’s still painful somehow but it’s a bittersweet kind of pain that’s a lot easier to handle than pure pain and longing.

Before he starts to drift too far into his own memories, Stiles decides to grab his computer to watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones. It helps him tuning down, makes him relax a little and it’s been waiting for him for nearly a week already anyway. Right when he opens up Netflix, his phone vibrates again.

 

**From: Derek [22:50]**

I will give it a shot then. I’m sorry, I’m keeping you up and awake, it’s so late already.

 

**To: Derek [22:51]**

Don’t worry, I’m not an early sleeper either. Just started watching an episode of GoT right now anyway. Do you watch it too? I’m sorry I’m keeping you from reading.

 

**From: Derek [22:55]**

It’s okay, I’m a multitasker ;) Are you kidding? I love it! So excited for tomorrow’s episode.

 

**To: Derek [22:58]**

Me too! If you’d like, we could watch it together in case we come over. Got my dad hooked a while ago :)

 

**From: Derek [23:02]**

I’d love to!

 

**To: Derek [23:04]**

Cool. We’ll bring snacks. Anything else we can contribute to dinner?

 

**From: Derek [23:08]**

Your company is more than enough.

 

For the duration of the episode Stiles is watching, Derek and him keep texting back and forth, talking about why Game of Thrones is so epic and what they loved most and which character they think is the coolest. They agree on many things but still have enough differences left to keep the discussion alive and lively. Stiles wishes Derek was there with him so they could discuss it face to face instead of via texts. But it’s one step at a time, right?

By the time the episode’s finished, Stiles is tired enough to actually fall asleep. He shuts his laptop down and puts it on his bedside table, reaching for his phone beside him.

 

**To: Derek [00:03]**

I think I’m going to sleep now. Thanks for the awesome talk, dude. I’ll hopefully see you later, good night.

 

**From: Derek [00:04]**

Right back atcha. See you later. Have a good night, Stiles.

 

And Stiles, apart from all the recent trouble he’s had with sleeping, does have a really good night.

 

~*~

 

“Hey, dad, uh…. Do you wanna go to Derek’s place for dinner and Game of Thrones tonight”, Stiles asks the next morning while he gnaws on a piece of his toast.

His dad halts the fork on the way to his mouth and looks at Stiles sceptically. “Derek? Which Derek?”

“Oh, sorry, yeah. Derek Hale. From the Hale family? The ones with the big a…. uh, huge house at the border of the forest right at the edge of Beacon Hills.”

“How do you know Derek,” his dad asks again before he puts the piece of scrambled eggs he had on his fork into his mouth.

“He and his son Scott started getting ice cream from my shop a while ago and since my ice cream is _that_ good, they’re regulars now and Derek and I talk from time to time. He asked if the two of us wanted to come over yesterday when I told him we are both GoT geeks,” Stiles grins, reaching for the glass of orange juice in front of him.

“Is that some kind of a date thing,” his dad asks, still sceptical and Stiles chokes on his orange juice.

After coughing for thirty solid seconds, he rasps out a half audible ‘No, s’not’ and drinks another gulp.

“You sure? Because your ears are usually not this pink, kiddo.”

“Excuse me while I nearly choked to death a minute ago. I’m allowed to have pink ears,” Stiles sneers back and levels his dad with a fond glare.

“Sure, kiddo,” his dad chuckles and eats a tomato.

“So, do you wanna go or do you wanna stay in? Please don’t force yourself if you don’t feel like it even though the doc said it’s okay to go out after a few days. I mean it, dad.”

“A little distraction from being inside the house all the time would be nice. Sign me up, son.”

“Cool! I will call Derek later, then,” Stiles cheers and his dad nods.

 

~*~

 

“Hey, what’s up,” Derek asks when he picks up after the second ring.

“Uh, hey. Wow, that was fast,” Stiles laughs. “I’m good, man, thanks. How are you?”

“Fine, too. Working in the workshop right now.”

“Oh, sorry,” Stiles coughs “I don’t wanna bother, I just wanted to let you know we’ll be coming to dinner tonight.”

“You’re not bothering me, Stiles. And that’s awesome, I will tell Marin to put two extra sets onto the table then,” Derek replies and Stiles can clearly hear the smile in his voice.

“Thanks. And I, uh… without wanting to sound rude or too demanding but I wanted to ask what’s for dinner tonight. Because my dad’s supposed to eat super healthy after his stroke and, uh… Okay, that sounded rude, sorry, I…”

“No, it really didn’t. Don’t apologise for being worried about your dad, Stiles. That’s nothing to apologise for. I think it’s amazing how you look out for him,” Derek answers.

“Hell of a job I did there… The stroke came anyway,” Stiles mumbles more to himself than to Derek or anyone in particular without thinking about what exactly he’s saying. Before he can manoeuvre back, Derek speaks up already.

“Stiles, no. That’s no one’s fault and least of all yours or your dad’s, okay? Don’t think it’s your fault because these kinds of things are complex and can’t be blamed on a single person. I don’t know you that long but I feel like you love your dad more than anything and that you look out for him extremely well,” Derek emphasises.

For a few, fleeting moments, neither of them says anything. Stiles is collecting his thoughts, trying to push away the big lump in his throat and the army of butterflies in his stomach and Derek seems to sense that Stiles needs a few seconds and politely remains silent.

“Sorry that the topics always get so heavy with me after less than five minutes,” Stiles sighs eventually and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Nah, it’s fine. It doesn’t happen nearly as often as you think and I’m just as bad at it as you so we’re even,” Derek laughs a little. “But maybe we can go back to the topic of tonight’s dinner to lighten up the mood a little,” he suggests.

“Yeah, sure,” Stiles agrees gratefully.

“I’m making a spinach casserole and I’ll just go easy on the cheese. The side dishes are mashed potatoes, green beans and mushrooms filled with feta cheese and herbs.”

“Damn, I’m hungry already. Why is it not evening yet,” Stiles whines playfully but, to be honest, his mouth does water at the sheer idea of eating all of this. “From what I gather, you will be the cook of the night?”

“Yeah, with Marin and her arm, things would get a little stressful and I love to cook anyway but if you’ve got a problem with that…,” Derek strays off and chuckles.

“Oh no no, don’t get me wrong. I love men who cook,” Stiles rushes to explain before really thinking about what he’s actually saying, yet again. Shit. He hasn’t even outed himself to Derek yet and now he’s all about talking about what he loves in men and if that’s not the broadest hint in the history of broad hints, Stiles doesn’t know what is.

He’s about to backpedal when Derek pre-empts him.

“Good to know,” the other man says and his voice is a mixture of thoughtfulness, delight and hopefulness. It sends a shiver all over Stiles’ body immediately and this thing that Derek does? Him saying ‘good to know’ when Stiles says things like he just did? It’s making him weak in the knees and all lightheaded. The implication behind what Derek’s saying is always so heavy but also so hopeful, it’s thrilling.

“Uh…,” Stiles offers eloquently after a while. “is there… is there anything we can bring along apart from the snacks?”

“You can bring the snacks and maybe some juice if you feel like it but there’s not really anything you could bring along. We’ve got everything already here,” Derek says after hesitating for a second as if he thought about what could possibly be missing still that the Stilinskis could bring along. Stiles wouldn’t even need food or drinks. He’d be fine with just sitting there, watching Derek, but that’s nothing anybody apart from him needs to know. Really not. And he’s pretty sure his dad wouldn’t jump onto that bandwagon.

“Cool. So when should we be at your place?”

“Six would be great,” Derek answers. “Dinner should be ready then.”

“If not, we can just order pizza,” Stiles laughs.

“Oh god, don’t tell Scott. He’s such a pizza maniac that he’d live from nothing but pizza for a month straight if I’d let him,” Derek laughs too.

“I’m so with him on that one. What about you, though? Do you like pizza or are you one of those mysterious people that due to some reason don’t like pizza?”

“No, I do like pizza. There are few things a good pepperoni pizza can’t fix for me.”

“Ha! That one I got right. I thought you’d be the pepperoni type,” Stiles says, pumping his fist in the air.

“You seem to have a lot of assumptions about me, Stilinski.” Derek tries to sound reproachful but all he manages is amused.

“I, uh… I’m just unbelievably curious. Curious could be my middle name.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

“What,” Stiles asks, confused.

“Shoot. Whatever assumptions you have. Say ‘em and you’ll get an answer from me right away. That way, your curiosity can be satisfied.”

“Okay, wow. You know how people say that you usually have one thousand questions in your head but when the moment comes in which you can actually ask them, your mind is blank? I’m in that kind of moment right now,” Stiles laughs, trying and desperately hoping he can cover up his nervousness. This is one of the moments he’s been waiting for for weeks and he doesn’t want to ruin it by asking something overly stupid.

“Performance issues, Stilinski,” Derek asks, seemingly not even trying to cover up the ambiguousness of his question.

“Ha,” Stiles barks out a laugh. “You wish, Hale.”

“I actually really don’t,” Derek retorts drily and Stiles all but wants to howl to the moon about his sexual frustration and about how he’s not been getting some since what feels like the dark middle ages.

“Your favourite ice cream indeed is peppermint even though you always looked as if the ice cream personally insulted you in the beginning.”

“True,” Derek laughs.

“I knew it. Uh… okay. Your favourite TV show of all time is The Sopranos.”

“False. It’s F.R.I.E.N.D.S.,” Derek corrects and he sounds like he’s amused by Stiles being wrong.

“Oh. Okay. That’s a surprise indeed. Spontaneously leads me to my next one then. Your favourite F.R.I.E.N.D.S. character is prooooobably… Chandler,” Stiles supplies and gets out of his desk chair to walk over to his bed to get a bit more comfortable.

“It’s a tie between Phoebe and Chandler,” Derek says and from the quiet noises in the background and the changed sound of his voice, he seems to be moving too.

“Good pick. Okay, your favourite dish is pasta. In all variations.”

“What? You’re getting kind of random,” Derek laughs, the sound of a door closing in the background.

“Don’t mock me for my assumptions. I get to be random sometimes. And who knows, maybe all these questions are part of an underlying, super complicated psychological test I’m performing on you.”

“Are they,” Derek asks simply.

“No, not really,” Stiles grins. “But still. Don’t distract me from the questions.”

“Okay, okay. You really are impatient, aren’t you,” Derek says fondly while he, from what it sounds like, walks up a flight of stairs.

“I am. My mom and dad said I’m quite a handful, which I am, I guess, but no one sent in a letter of complaint yet so I guess it’s fine.”

“Of course it’s fine. It’s actually pretty cute,” Derek says and it sounds like he’s smiling too.

Stiles, on the other hand, froze up again. Derek obviously and shamelessly flirting with him, showing definite interest, is something Stiles can only wrap his head around very slowly. He knows, intellectually _knows_ that there’s something between them and that there is a perceptible pull and a definite affection but there’s also the thought at the back of his mind that tells Stiles it’s weird to be doing this when Marin is around. It feels a bit… out of place. Sure, Derek is a grown man who can make his own decisions and who’s not dependent on his ex just because she happens to be the mother of his son.

All the affection and support Derek displayed towards him assures Stiles of his feelings for him and Derek doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d flirt with someone just for fun only to drop them like a hot potato the next second. He seems like he’d only flirt like this if he is genuinely interested in that person, but for Stiles, it’s still a kind of abstract concept. Someone being genuinely interested in him. Not as in ‘Let’s have a fling once or twice yay sex’ but as in ‘I want to get to know those little things about you as much as the bigger stuff and I want to take things slow but I also want to shamelessly flirt with you’. Stiles gets this vibe from Derek and hell, they nearly kissed twice already so Derek’s obviously interested but Stiles was, is and always will be someone who tends to doubt himself a bit too much from time to time.

Danny and he were a bit like this, the banter and the flirting, but somehow, they were also very different. They got together shortly after high school after they admitted there was more than just friendship and it had worked instantly. They shared interests and everything was exciting and new and wonderful. He loved Danny because he was kind and nice and romantic but also snarky and as geeky as Stiles was. They shared many interests and they loved to be around each other more and more over the years. A relationship was the most logical thing that could’ve happened to them.

And that was one of the reasons for their break up, too. A relationship that is, partially, based on the fact that you are perfect for each other in theory won’t work out most of the time. You need to want it too. And Stiles and Danny wanted to be around each other, that much was true. But they both knew, in the end, that they’d mistaken affection for romantic feelings. They do love each other, but in a platonic way and that’s the material great friendships are made of. Not relationships however, so they broke up, agreeing that being friends was the best possible way for them to be and that’s that.

And after Danny and a few times before him too, there were only meaningless flings or hook-ups that lasted a few weeks max for Stiles. It’s not like he was not looking for a relationship but he simply didn’t meet a guy or a girl he wanted to be with in that sense and if he’s been interested, the other party wasn’t. Stiles had called it bad luck and went on with what he was doing but when the times had come in which he’s had a few hours to himself, the loneliness had been creeping over him and the realisation that he didn’t even want any of these meaningless flings, got to a point where it had nearly suffocated him. That’s why he’d stopped having them and had made the promise to himself that he wouldn’t rush into things anymore when he already knew they were going to make him nothing but miserable in the long run.

Derek was different though. Stiles felt want and lust and desire for him but that was only a tiny part of the complex framework of feelings he’s constructed for the other man within him. He definitely wanted to sleep with him and hot sex with Derek was _definitely_ the top fantasy he had when he jacked off nowadays (alongside with a free serving of remorse, ha) but it wasn’t what came to Stiles’ mind first, second or even third when he thought of him. It was feelings like affection, fondness, excitement and by now, very reluctantly and hesitantly, love.

It’s a huge, scary thing to admit to himself because falling in love was so not part of his plan but when do you ever actually _plan_ to fall in love? That’s right, hardly ever. So he might as well just roll with it and see how things go, despite the danger of being hurt in the process. Stiles _would_ be hurt if Derek wouldn’t be interested after all but at least, he can say that he was honest and didn’t lie about his feelings and did what he thought was right. That’s a lot more than he did in the years before when he tried to convince himself that meaningless sex was totally what he was looking for.

“Stiles, you’re still there?” Derek’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts which he must’ve drifted off into.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m still here. I just tend to get lost in my thoughts sometimes,” he laughed awkwardly. “Now, where were we?”

“My favourite food. You guessed pasta and I do like pasta but it’s not my favourite. My favourite dish is my mom’s Thanksgiving dinner. And yes, that counts as one dish because every piece of it is important.”

“Not even going to argue with you here, man. Thanksgiving food is epic,” Stiles agrees, thinking of their family dinners on Thanksgiving. What he’d give for a piece of that turkey with gravy right now. “Okay. Favourite colour now. I’m going with… burgundy.”

“True.”

“Awesome.

They fall into a comfortable conversation, talking about anything and everything, sometimes talking about one topic for twenty minutes straight whereas other topics are only touched upon shortly until they move to the next.

It’s only when Stiles hears Scott’s voice in the background that he checks the time and realises with a start that Derek and he have been on the phone for one and a half hours. Holy. Hell. He knew that quite some time must’ve passed but not _that_ much.

“Hey, big boy,” Derek laughs and grunts out as if most of the air was punched out of him when Scott’s voice gets closer so Stiles assumes that the little boy jumped onto his dad’s stomach.

“Who’re you talking to, dad,” Scott chirps curiously.

“I’m talking to Stiles,” Derek says and the gentleness and love that took over Derek’s voice as soon as Scott came close makes Stiles’ knees go weak. It’s a good thing he’s already lying on his bed.

“Really? Can I say hi? Please, daddy, I wanna say hi to Stiles” Scott squeaks excitedly.

“Yeah, you can but please stop bouncing up and down on my chest. You’re not as light as you think you are,” Derek coughs but chuckles nevertheless.

“Sorry,” Scott replies and it sounds as if he’s sporting a goofy grin along with his apology. Stiles huffs out an amused laugh.

Derek mumbles out a ‘here you go’ and before Stiles knows it, an excited ‘Hey Stiles!’ resounds through the phone.

“Hey, buddy. How are you,” he answers and feels how an even bigger smile spreads across his lips. He’s really grown to like Scott for a great deal ever since he’s met him and his dad. His cheerfulness, his excitement and enthusiasm and the genuine joy and big heart Scott has makes it hard not to like him in an instant and Stiles, for all he knows, did exactly that the first time he’d seen Derek’s son. And in the time after their first encounter, Scott managed to wiggle himself into Stiles’ heart, making himself a home right beside Derek.

“I’m super good! I had an amazing day with mom and we’re making a cake now for dinner tonight,” Scott talks away.

“That sounds rad,” Stiles agrees.

“Hey Scott, guess what,” Derek chimes in before Stiles can ask what cake they’re making.

“What,” Scott asks curiously.

“We’re having guests for dinner tonight,” Derek hints a bit further.

“Do we make more cake then,” Scott wonders out loud and Stiles huffs out an amused laugh over the fact that that’s the first thing that came to Scott’s mind because as a kid, Stiles’ would’ve reacted just about the same way.

“Nah, one cake’s enough since you’re making the big version. But don’t you wanna know who’s coming to dinner though,” Derek asks amused.

“Of course I wanna know, dad,” Scott says, sounding incredulous as if he’s surprised his dad may actually think he doesn’t want to know.

“Stiles and his dad are visiting,” Derek reveals, followed by a high-pitched ‘REALLY?’ not even 0.5 seconds later.

“Are you really coming Stiles or is dad making a joke,” Scott asks excitedly, muffling Derek’s ‘hey!’ in the background.

“Yeah, we’re really coming, Scott,” Stiles laughs into his phone.

“Awesome!”

“What kind of cake are you making,” Stiles tunes in again.

“I forgot what kind of cake it is exactly but I know there’s chocolate in there. Mom knows the recipe though so don’t worry, we can prepare the cake anyway,” Scott explains solemnly.

“I’m sure you will and hey, how bad can that cake be if there’s chocolate in it, huh,” Stiles jokes.

“Chocolate does make everything better,” Scott chirps. “But I fear our cake won’t be as pretty as your cake.”

“Of course it’ll be as pretty, don’t worry about it,” Stiles says, waving it off even though Scott can’t see the gesture.

Before Scott, or Derek for that matter, can say anything else though, Marin’s voice comes in, seemingly from the back of the room. “Scotty, if we want the cake to be ready for tonight’s dinner, we need to start soon.”

“Okay mom, I’m coming! Bye Stiles, see you tonight,” Scott exclaims and seems to be jumping off the bed just a few seconds afterwards. At least Stiles assumes it’s a bed or a sofa because from all he’s heard when Scott came rushing in, Derek seemed to have been lying comfortably somewhere. Stiles tries very hard to keep his mind in check so it doesn’t wander off. Not when he’s still on the phone with the other man.

“Marin,” Derek calls out, snapping Stiles out of his thoughts. “Stiles and his dad are joining us for dinner tonight. Can you cook a few more potatoes please?”

“Sure. Say hi to Stiles from me.”

“I will. I’ll be down in a few to help,” Stiles hears Derek say.

“Take your time. We don’t really need any help until we start on the dinner preps which won’t be before five.” Stiles glances over to his clock. It’s a little after half past three now.

“Okay. I’ll be down anyway, checking in so you guys don’t blow up the oven,” Derek chuckles light-heartedly.

“That was one time, okay,” Marin laughs and Stiles feels a slight pang in his heart upon realising just how much history the two of them actually have.

“Okay okay,” Derek chuckles before a few moments of silence on the line set in. “Sorry,” he speaks up after a while.

“No no, it’s okay. I love listening along to your exciting family life. Everything around here’s a bit more… settled and quiet. I miss having kids around me. But okay, sometimes I can be pretty childish myself but that’s different, I guess,” Stiles laughs.

“Do none of your other friends have kids,” Derek asks and Stiles grins wide because Derek basically called them friends just now. He kind of figured by now that they’re definitely heading into that direction, especially after they’ve just talked for over one and a half hours on the phone with each other.

“Uh… I think the best way to put it is by saying ‘not yet’. Some of them will have kids eventually. My bet’s on Isaac and Allison at the moment,” Stiles muses.

“How long have they been together,” Derek asks.

“Oh, they’re not together yet. It just feels like they will be very soon since they’ve been circling each other for ages now. I guess it’s bound to happen and if you ask me, it’ll rather be sooner than later.”

“Okay, I see,” Derek laughs. “They’re those kinds of friends, I see. Erica and Boyd were the same. Circling each other for ages until Erica finally made a move five years ago and they’ve been inseparable ever since.”

“Wait, Boyd and Erica from the bakery? I didn’t know you were friends,” Stiles says, surprised.

“Yeah, Boyd and I went to college together and he met Erica in school. She’s two years younger than him but they kind of clicked from the very start and have been friends since day one,” Derek explains. He also seems to be getting up, if the change in his voice is anything to go by.

“Huh, I didn’t know that. But it definitely makes sense when you see them,” Stiles agrees and nods along even though Derek can’t see it.

“Yeah,” Derek hums out. “Listen, I better head down now. I don’t want to leave the two of them with all the work.”

“Totally fine. I hope they haven’t blown the oven up yet,” Stiles laughs.

“Me too, even though I’m pretty sure we would’ve heard that,” Derek chuckles. “I’ll see you tonight then, Stiles.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Stiles says and can’t help but sound excited. Which is only honest since he really is excited to go to Derek’s house and have dinner there with his dad. “See you tonight,” he says and hangs up, letting the phone fall onto his stomach while he heaves out a deep sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for chapter 4 of Like Lullabies.
> 
> The beta has been done by the lovely Jenny again. Thank you so much, Darling!
> 
> If you have any comments, questions, ideas or constructive criticism, feel free to send a message or a comment my way here or on my [Tumblr](http://possiblywonderful.tumblr.com).


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If there’s anything I can do, apart from setting you guys up because I’m not doing that, say the word, son.”
> 
> “Oh, you actually can,” Stiles retorts.
> 
> “What is it, then,” his dad asks, looking at him expectantly.
> 
> “Don’t tell any embarrassing stories from my childhood,” Stiles grins.
> 
> “Oh, don’t worry. I won’t,” his dad reassures him. “There are enough embarrassing stories from the last couple of years. I won’t have to use the childhood ones,” he snorts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While writing the dinner scene, I listened to [this playlist](http://8tracks.com/daenerys-stormborn/it-s-been-a-long-long-time). I imagine it'd be the music Derek would choose for this kind of occasion.
> 
> I imagine Derek's and Scott's house looks like a mashup of these three examples ( ([X](http://imagesus.homeaway.com.au/mda01/f5cc79ea-46c3-4160-bc71-b710e9021ed2.1.10)) ([X](http://safavieh.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/hgtv-dreamhouse-09-ext1-300x225.jpg)) ([X](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-zT-Js0P2vwk/UlxR1tTpIoI/AAAAAAAABFY/UG9LEV-Lcn8/s1024/118-1871_IMG.JPG)) ) even though I'm leaning towards the first one the most.

Stiles is rubbing his hands together nervously for the umpteenth time and Isaac sighs, also for the umpteenth time.

“Stiles, in all honesty, he likes you. You could be wearing a potato sack, for all that matters, and he probably wouldn’t make a big deal out of it,” Isaac says and sits down crossed-legged on Stiles’ bed after he’s been pacing the room for ten minutes while Stiles has been ranting at him. Okay, to be fair, he’s been ranting more at his closet and himself rather than at Isaac even though he’d called him twenty minutes into his what-on-earth-am-I-doing-to-wear crisis.

“I know,” Stiles moans, frustrated. “But I just… I don’t wanna be that person who’s contemplating what to wear for hours on end. Yet here I am, standing in front of my closet for an hour, talking to my black pair of jeans about sexual innuendos and how to gracefully eat mashed potatoes.”

“First of all, you’re not talking to your jeans, you’re talking to me. For the record, I’ve also been answering even though I’m not quite sure you’ve caught all of it since you’re still eyeing that screaming red sweater which I’ve told you not to wear two times already,” Isaac looks at him questioningly. And yes, maybe he hasn’t been paying attention that closely. He’s busy freaking out.

“And secondly,” Isaac continues “this is not about the clothes. We both know it isn’t.”

Stiles nods and sinks down onto the bed besides Isaac, looking at him with his lips in a tight smile, his eyebrows raised a bit. “No, it really isn’t. But it’s a good enough excuse.”

“Yeah,” Isaac shrugs and gives Stiles’ shoulder a nudge with his own. “You’ll do fine, don’t worry too much. And your dad’s there too.”

“I don’t know if that’s supposed to calm me down, actually. I mean, I’m having dinner at Derek’s place with my dad and his ex-girlfriend whom he’s got a kid with. That’s not necessarily weird. But…,” Stiles sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Derek’s kind of… I’m having the biggest crush on him and my dad knows, Derek knows and Marin probably knows too. It’s gotten to the point where I’m thinking about spending my future with him when I don’t even know if we’ll ever be able to kiss given the ongoing interruptions we have when things get serious.”

Isaac’s quiet for a few, fleeting moments and when Stiles looks up at him, he’s met with a fond look on his best friend’s face. “It’s that serious for you, huh?”

“I… seems like it, yeah,” Stiles lets out a deep breath and rubs his hands over his face. “Nothing’s certain at the moment. But he can’t be completely averse to the idea of… us.”

“It really doesn’t seem like it, no,” Isaac shakes his head. “You’ve been talking on the phone for close to two hours today. Without it being awkward. And you nearly kissed. Twice.”

Stiles doesn’t verbally reply to this, simply nods his head instead before he claps his hands against his cheeks and gets up from the bed. “Okay, let’s get this show on the road.”

Isaac grins, getting up from the bed a moment later, patting Stiles on the shoulder. “That’s more like you.”

 

~*~

 

In the end, they took less than ten minutes to pick out Stiles’ outfit and a suitable present for the hosts. Stiles ended up picking a colouring book for Scott and a flower bouquet for Marin (and Derek).

“You clean up nice in that shirt, kiddo,” his dad greets him as he sits down on the passenger seat when Stiles picks him up after he finished getting the gifts in town.

“You’re not too shabby either. Too bad Melissa’s not there tonight, she could really…”

“Son. Don’t,” his father warns him but there’s absolutely no heat behind it.

“I’m just gonna shoot Derek a message to let them know we’re on our way,” Stiles murmurs, already reaching for his phone.

 

**To: Derek [17:32]**

Just picked up my dad. Will be there in twenty.

 

“Seems like you’re talking a lot. You and Derek, I mean,” his dad says nonchalantly. Or at least he tries. Stiles can tell he’s far more interested in his son’s answer than he tries to let on.

“Yeah, we are. It’s nice. He’s good to talk to. And we both love geeky stuff which is definitely a plus,” Stiles tells him, eyes schooled on the road while he drives them out of town and towards the outskirts of Beacon Hills.

His dad hums to himself instead of answering.

A few minutes pass by in silence, the music from the radio the only thing filling the car, until his dad speaks up again. “I’m glad.”

“Hm,” Stiles asks, raising his eyebrows while he shoots his dad a quick questioning look.

“That you get along so well. It’s been a while for you and I want you to be happy,” he says and it’s a quiet, earnest statement. They usually don’t really address these kinds of things because for them, it goes without saying they want the other to be happy. But every now and then, they do talk about it and it’s always clear that they do so out of their best interest and love for each other. That doesn’t mean it’s not awkward, though.

“Uh… yeah. I’m not unhappy even though I’m single, dad,” Stiles points out and turns right into a forest road after his sat nav told him to do so. He doesn’t necessarily need it since he’s been to Derek’s home once already but he thought it’d be better to take it with him in case he gets lost. Which is not entirely impossible, given his current nervous and excited state of mind.

“I know, I know,” his dad waves it off and sighs heavily. “It’s just... want to you to be happy. You don’t need a man for that, we know that much. But if you find someone you want to be with…”

Stiles picks up where his dad left off. “I’m not sure where things will go from where we are right now and what they’ll turn into. I know I like him and I like being around him. And he seems to like me too. Or at least doesn’t dislike me gravely,” he chuckles for which he gets a look from his dad.

“Don’t make yourself smaller than you are. I’m your father, I’m obliged to say this but you’re a great person, Stiles, and anyone who gets to be your partner can consider themselves fortunate”.

“Dad,” Stiles mumbles out because people saying stuff like this always makes him uncomfortable. In a good way, though. It’s just that he’s a bit awkward with compliments sometimes and right now is not an exception from the rule.

“No, don’t ‘dad’ me. It is what it is,” his father says and there’s a finality to his words.

“Thank you,” Stiles sighs out, feeling encouraged and grateful that he gets to have a father as great as his.

“If there’s anything I can do, apart from setting you guys up because I’m not doing that, say the word, son.”

“Oh, you actually can,” Stiles retorts.

“What is it, then,” his dad asks, looking at him expectantly.

“Don’t tell any embarrassing stories from my childhood,” Stiles grins and pulls up onto a driveway leading up to a big gravel-covered yard between two cosy looking farmhouses. They’re painted in light, warm colours and are surrounded by big gardens and the edge of the forest further back. They’re the kind of houses you see and feel at home instantly.

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t,” his dad reassures him. “There are enough embarrassing stories from the last couple of years. I won’t have to use the childhood ones,” he snorts, earning himself a playful, gentle shove from his son.

“Just so you know, I’m not reassured in the slightest,” Stiles grumps out while he turns off the engine and unfastens his seatbelt. After getting out of the car, Stiles uses the few moments in which he grabs the book and the flowers from the backseat to take a deep breath and to steel himself for what’s about to happen. Even though he doesn’t have the slightest idea what exactly will happen in the end but it can’t hurt, he figures.

It’s his dad’s voice floating towards him that gets Stiles to close the door and round the car after locking it, stuffing the keys into the back pocket of his jeans. He sees his dad standing at the steps leading up to the front porch of the right one of the two houses, shaking hands with Derek. “Thanks for having us, Mr Hale,” his dad tells to which Derek vehemently shakes his head, telling the sheriff to call him Derek.

And Stiles can’t put it any other way. Derek looks stunning. He’s wearing a casual outfit made up out of jeans and a light, grey sweater and he looks so comfortable and at home, it makes Stiles’ head dizzy and his lips turn up into a gentle smile.

He doesn’t get to take the scenery in any longer, to appreciate the view, because Derek spots him a few seconds after he appeared from behind the car.

“Stiles,” he greets him with a warm expression and a fond smile on his lips and Stiles could kiss him right then and there if it weren’t for his dad and Scott bouncing out of the house the same moment.

Stiles is a bit unsure as to how to greet Derek. A handshake seems too formal for them but a hug has to be just right or else it’ll be too intense and Stiles is about to get sweaty hands when Derek foregoes all hesitation and pulls Stiles into a short, one-armed hug. “Good to see you, great that you could make it.”

“Thanks for having us,” Stiles smiles. He’s pretty sure his cheeks are flushing too and usually, he’d be a tad bit embarrassed about it but the easy smile Derek’s still shooting him makes him forget about it.

He’s about to comment on the gifts they brought with them when Scott comes running over to them, greeting Stiles excitedly.

“Hey there, little monkey,” Stiles laughs and ruffles the boy’s hair when Scott hugs him around his waist, grinning up towards him. “How you doin’?”

“I’m good, thank you very much,” Scott answers politely, not letting the typical smile fall off his lips though. “Dinner is nearly ready, too. Mom just got the last things out of the oven so dad can add the final touches to the food. She said she better not go near it or we’ll be eating take away tonight,” Scott chuckles out a laugh, seemingly amused by his mom’s inability to cook.

Derek, too, smiles and ruffles his son’s hair like Stiles did a moment before. “Shall we head inside then?” he asks, looking at Stiles and his father to which both Stilinskis nod, humming out an affirmative ‘yeah’.

“You have an amazing home, Derek,” the sheriff tells him upon entering the house.

“Thank you, I’m very proud of it too. Took me a long time to turn it into… well, this,” Derek laughs, making a circular motion with his finger so he’s basically pointing to all of what’s around them.

“Wait,” Stiles looks at him incredulous. “You’re not telling me you’ve built this _yourself_?”

Derek laughs amusedly at Stiles’ exasperated look. “What, don’t I look like I can do some heavy lifting? Or are you questioning my home decoration skills,” he shoots Stiles a playful look, obviously teasing him, and rounds a corner into what must be the kitchen and dining room area.

“That’s not it but this is a _house_ , man. An entire fu…,” he catches himself in the last second from swearing out in front of Scott and settles for another “a _house_ ” instead.

“I did mention I love my job a lot, didn’t I,” Derek chuckles and makes his way over to the kitchen cabinet. Stiles and his dad follow him suit, laying eyes on a cosy open kitchen with a big, nicely set dining room table in the enclosed room next to it.

“Did you build the entire house or did you do the interior part, Derek?” his father asks, putting his hand onto the back of one of the chairs at the table.

“I did build it all. Well, with the help of friends and colleagues of course but quite a lot of it has been done by me. I wanted it to be something I’ve built and that feels like home. Other houses can do too, of course, but there’s something special about knowing you’ve created this with your own hands. And it’s kind of a family tradition, too,” Derek says and he’s got this fond, warm look on his face. Stiles smiles along, feeling the butterflies come to life again.

“That’s great,” the sheriff nods earnestly. “I wish I’d be able to do something like that. Got two left hands unfortunately, tough,” he chuckles.

“Remember that one time you tried to fix the bathroom faucet,” Stiles snorts and claps his dad’s shoulder amicably to which his father just answers with a groan, rubbing his hand over his face.

“What happened?” Scott chirps up and grins at Stiles and the sheriff.

“Well,” Stiles smirks. “Let’s just say we had a lot of water to mob up that night. And dad didn’t have to shower either since he was already drenched.”

“Yeah it’s not exactly my fault the twisty thing was not cooperating,” the sheriff frowns at his son.

“The twisty thing, dad? Do you by any chance mean _the nut_ ,” Stiles chortles for which he earns himself a shove. It’s worth it though because Scott’s laughing and when he shoots Derek a glance, he sees him smiling too.

“Anyway,” John claps his hand, obviously trying to change the topic. “How can we help?”

“Please, by all means, have a seat. You’re our guests,” Derek insists and shakes his head when he walks over to place the green beans on one of the coasters on the table. “Scott, can you go over to the stereo and press play, please?”

Scott nods and skips over into a corner of the living room and a moment later, pleasant jazz music fills the air and out of the corner of his eyes, Stiles sees Marin coming down the stairs. She and Scott make their way back into the dining room area together, Marin telling her son to have a seat already before she makes her way over to Stiles and his dad.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Scott’s mom Marin,” she says, extending her hand towards the sheriff who shakes it, introducing himself, meeting her smile with one of his own.

“Good to see you again, Stiles,” she turns towards him after a second and just like his father did a moment before, he shakes her hand too. It’s only then, he realises he’s still clasping onto the flower bouquet and the colouring book with his other hand.

“Yeah, it is. Thank you for having us,” Stiles says. “And we, uh, brought you something. As a thank you.”

“Stiles, you really shouldn’t have,” Derek groans. It has a fond tone to it though so Stiles doesn’t feel bad for actually bringing gifts. Especially not when he gets to spoil Scott a bit.

“Thank you, Stiles. The flowers look great,” Marin says and takes the bouquet from him, walking up to the sink to put them into a vase.

“What’s that?” Derek asks, looking at the book in Stiles’ hand when he walks past him to put the steaming casserole dish he just took out of the oven onto the table.

“Oh, it’s uh… nothing big. A little something for Scott. Since you said you like wolves, Scott, I thought uh…,” Stiles trails off and holds out the colouring book to Scott who got up from his chair upon the gifts being mentioned.

“That’s so _cool_ ,” Scott shrieks when he sees what exactly Stiles and the sheriff have got him. “Mom, dad, look,” he nearly jumps, waving the book. “Wolves!”

“That’s great,” Derek says and Marin smiles too, stroking her hand over Scott’s hair and shoots Stiles a grateful look.

“Thanks, Stiles. Thanks, Stiles’ dad,” Scott beams and clutches the book to his chest. Stiles grins back at him, happy to see the little boy so thrilled.

“Call me John, Scott,” the sheriff speaks up. “And I’m glad you like the book.”

“I love it,” Scott nods his head vigorously and walks back to his chair, puts the book down onto the side of the table carefully and sits back down just in time for Derek announcing that dinner is served and ready to be eaten and Marin putting down the vase with the flowers in the centre of the table.

“The food looks amazing,” Stiles tells Derek to which his dad hums in agreement. Derek thanks them, sitting down opposite of Stiles and all of them start filling their plates.

Stiles starts with the mashed potatoes because he loves everything potatoes and because they’re closest to him. When he’s through with that, he hands his dad the spoon and reaches for the green beans, just in time with Derek, causing their hands to brush against each other.

Stiles’ eyes shoot up, meeting Derek’s gaze. He mumbles out a quiet sorry but smiles nevertheless. Derek returns the smile and Stiles’ heart skips a beat because it’s one of the first times he gets to look at Derek this directly when the other man smiles at him. It’s not that it hasn’t happened before because it certainly did. It’s more that the lighting is perfect, mellow music is playing in the background and they’re surrounded by their loved ones so it already feels like a scene from a picture perfect family album.

Adding to it is that neither of them seems too eager on breaking their eye contact just yet. Stiles can feel his face heat up a bit and if his eyes are not playing a trick on his, a rosy colour spreads over Derek’s cheeks too.

Like usually, it’s Scott who breaks them out of the moment by asking if they’re done with the mashed casserole.

“Uh, yeah, sorry. Hand me your plate and I’ll help you to some,” Derek coughs and Stiles is positively speechless to see Derek so flustered. So far, the other’s been the relaxed one when it came to these moments. It’s good to see how even he can be shaken. Even though it didn’t have to be right in front of everyone, Stiles thinks, when he notes his dad’s smirking at his green beans with his tell-tale ‘alright’ grin. He needs to have a word about discretion with him later even though Stiles is one to talk right now, not being overly subtle himself.

Thankfully, Marin takes over the conversation by asking the sheriff about his job and if it’s anything like what the cop shows tell you on TV. Scott’s captured by all the stories his dad tells them. After over 25 years in his sheriff position, he sure got lots of them and is thrilled to answer all the excited questions Scott’s got for him. Stiles surely knows it’s different to tell these stories to a kid than to a grownup since grownups often have this sobered up view on things and tend to be less captured by things. Kids still have this magical view on the world that Stiles misses on a daily basis.

Derek listens too and even Stiles, who’s heard all of them at least once before, is enjoying his old man talking about car chases and the struggle that are surveillance cameras. But every so often, he looks over to Derek, his gaze lingering a second or two.

It’s at around the third time he does that when Derek’s looking back at him. At first, Stiles is not sure what to do. Maybe he should just turn his head around again, pretending that he didn’t look at Derek in particular. But then he thinks he should stop being childish, Derek won’t scold him for it. So he holds their gaze, his lips turning into a smile that Derek returns.

The moment lasts for what feels like hours and Stiles’ heart beats a mile a minute. He never had the chance to really look at Derek’s eyes like this, never really saw what a spectrum of colours they are and how easy it is to lose himself in them.

They’re way past the generally accepted time to be staring at a person (if there’s such a thing to begin with) and Stiles is about to break the gaze mainly because he’s not sure how close he is to excusing himself from the table to go to the bathroom for a moment just so he can breathe properly again. His dad beats him to the punch though when he gets up from the table and does what Stiles has contemplated not a minute beforehand.

Stiles quickly redirects his attention towards the casserole on his plate when Marin asks him how he came about the ice cream parlour. He’s grateful they get to have a change of topic, that he gets to talk about something and distract himself from Derek since even though this is a family dinner, Stiles is still incredibly aware of Derek. In the end, it is the first time they actually made plans to meet and spend more than fifteen minutes together in public places. It’s new for Stiles and it’s exciting but he does need to test out what’s okay and what’s still a bit too rushed and it can’t be all that different for Derek either. Especially with their families around.

So he talks about how he always had this dream to build and create something of his own and that he always loved cooking but didn’t want to work as an actual chef which makes the ice cream a good compromise. He tells them about his dream turning into a possibility, how his dad had encouraged him to go for it and that it’s kind of been the last push he’d needed.

“He was pretty brilliant with that entire enterprise, if I may say so,” John says when he sits back down. “I’m proud of what he accomplished.”

“Dad,” Stiles whines softly and looks down at the table, blushing while he rubs his hand over the back of his neck.

His father already inhales when Derek beats him to the punch and speaks up. “I agree. It’s a great store and it’s amazing that you’ve built it up yourself.”

“Not as great as you because you’ve built an entire house whereas I only bought the store,” Stiles retorts, laughing, trying to diffuse the suddenly very solemn atmosphere a bit.

“Don’t hide your light under the bushel, son,” the sheriff nudges him and both Marin and Derek hum in agreement.

“Alright, alright,” Stiles laughs and hopes it doesn’t show too much that he’s, in fact, really touched by their words of praise and their compliments. He himself is proud of what he’s accomplished but it’s different when the people you care about tell you things like these.

“And your ice cream’s rad,” Scott pipes up, making them all laugh.

The dinner flows smoothly from then on. They talk about Marin’s job as a dancer, Scott’s favourite movies and have a heated discussion about which pumpkin pie recipe is the best one around. No one wins in the end but that wasn’t the intention of it all anyway. Derek and Stiles keep exchanging looks every now and then but none of them are as intense as the one they had before his dad left the table to go to the restroom.

When the time for the latest Game of Thrones episode rolls around, they make sure to clean the table and take care of the dishes, soaking the containers in the sink and putting everything else into the dishwasher. They all say goodnight to Scott when Marin takes him upstairs to read him a story and put him to bed. He bids them goodbye with a kiss to the cheek and an especially fierce hug for the sheriff and Stiles, accompanied by another five _thank you’s_ for the ‘most amazing colouring book he’s got in ages because it’s got wolves’.

“Please, Derek, don’t boast my ego too much,” John chuckles and sits down in the big cosy looking armchair after Derek offered it to him because the most honourable man around deserves the best seat.

“No really,” Stiles pipes up with a teasing tone. “He’ll be insufferable for days.” He earns himself a playfully exasperated ‘hey!’ from his dad, both of them laughing though.

Derek chuckles too but it’s a bit more quiet and excuses himself to the kitchen, saying he’s getting the snacks and the drinks.

Not two seconds after he’s gone, his dad lightly kicks Stiles into the knee. “Ouch, dad, what the hell,” Stiles asks and shoots him an exasperated look.

“Go,” his dad hisses.

Stiles has got no clue what he’s talking about. “I’ve got no clue what you’re talking about,” he hiss-whispers back even though he’s got no idea why exactly they’re doing that.

“Go and help him,” his dad says and thinks he’s made himself clearer but he really hasn’t.

Or it’s Stiles, being at a total loss. “Huh?”

“Son, don’t be so thick. It’s the perfect chance to get closer to him and you c…”

“Oh my god, stop talking. I get it now, I’ll go if only you’ll stop talking,” Stiles pleads and is already out of the sofa and halfway to the kitchen where Derek’s filling something into a bowl.

“You okay?” he asks and turns towards Stiles with a smile yet somehow also a bit of a confused look crossing over his face.

“Yeah, peachy. I just thought I’d give you a hand,” Stiles explains and the desire to say hand job instead is so overwhelming he feels like he nearly needs to clap his hand over his mouth. Yay to innuendo and Stiles having a rather grownup humour sometimes but even he knows when he’s crossing a line. This is one of these moments. Even though it’s a shame. And it’d also totally be true.

“Thanks. You can bring over the tray with the glasses and the drinks if you like,” Derek offers and proceeds to fill in what Stiles now identifies as dried apple slices into the bowl.

“Alright,” Stiles nods and takes said tray from the counter and carries it over to the coffee table in the middle of the seating area.

“Weak,” his dad shoots him an unimpressed look, obviously mocking him.

“I’m on it, okay,” Stiles hisses and shoots his father a vigorous look in return. Followed by another ‘weak’ floating after him, he goes back into the kitchen, rolling his eyes. “Anything else I can help you with?”

“Actually not, thanks,” Derek looks at him for a moment and reaches for another package lying on the counter. “There’s not much left to do. I’m done with the apple slices and only need to prepare the caramel popcorn.”

“Caramel popcorn? Oh my god, I love you,” Stiles moans, forcing a laugh out of Derek, ignoring how insanely good it feels to say these words to the man standing next to him even though he’s not voiced them out as a real confession but because Derek managed to get his favourite snack right at the first attempt. Too bad it’s not the former one. Yet.

Derek’s laugh boils down to a low chuckle. “Good?”

“Good? _Good_? Amazing! Caramel popcorn is the best thing brought forth by mankind,” Stiles tells him, his voice playfully exasperated.

“Better than electricity, health care, the industrial revolution and the space program,” Derek retorts, looking at Stiles amusedly.

“Yes?”

“Okay,” Derek nods, tilts his chin downwards and smiles to himself. What’s that supposed to mean?

Stiles has no time to get to the bottom of it though because Derek already hands him the popcorn bowl, his fingers brushing over Stiles’ in the process. The touch is broken off shortly after when Derek glances towards the clock on the wall, noting they’ve got less than five minutes left till the new episode airs so Stiles sighs and follows him back into the living room.

They put the bowls onto the table beside the tray Stiles had just brought over. Stiles pointedly ignores his dad’s inquiring looks and sits down on the couch in front of the TV.

“I fear you will have a hard time getting rid of me later, man,” Stiles tells Derek who’s standing at the TV cupboard to get the remote control.

“Not that I’d stop you but I’m curious about your reasoning,” Derek chuckles and looks at Stiles curiously, a bit as if he’s actually pretty interested as to why Stiles wouldn’t leave. As if it’s an option he’d like to consider. Stiles staying here instead of going home, that is. It’s a typical case of Stiles saying something that backfires a lot and now he’s got to see how he gets himself out of this alive and with the least damage possible. Stiles can practically feel his dad’s preening grin beside him and has a hard time not turning his head to roll his eyes at him.

“Pretty obvious, if you ask me. Amazing food, great company and, first and foremost, that TV is _sick_ ,” he nods his chin towards the seemingly ten square meters wide screen.

Derek smirks, puts HBO on and sits down on the couch right next to Stiles even though there is another armchair available and suddenly Stiles realises just how small this couch exactly is. It’s when Derek’s thigh brushes his when Stiles is about ready to jump out of his skin.

Today, it won’t matter if one of the characters on the show dies because Stiles will surely take over that job by dying himself. He won’t survive the next hour with Derek right next to him. Never in a million years.

What makes it even worse is that Derek doesn’t even have to sit this close. He’s not exactly sitting on Stiles’ lap but he’s definitely invading the personal space region and here’s still a good chunk of space on his other side, Stiles reckons when he darts his eyes over for a split second before shooting his dad a pleading look. His dad just grins, though, and averts his gaze towards the screen upon hearing the opening theme song playing. Traitor.

The first ten minutes go down fine with nothing major happening in the sense of nothing major happening on the couch. Stiles has got _no_ clue what exactly is going on in the show because he’s more staring _at_ the screen instead of actually watching. He’s too aware of Derek sitting close to him, his thigh brushing Stiles’ every so often and it doesn’t fail to make Stiles giddy every time.

It happens when Daenerys is cuddling one of her dragons on screen. His dad comments on how real the dragons look and Stiles grunts out something that sounds a bit like ‘yeah’ which is good because that’s what he’s been aiming for.

Derek, on the other hand, actually gives a verbal answer. “Definitely. They looked pretty great in season one already,” he agrees and reaches forward to grab the bowl of popcorn. He has to get up a bit to properly reach the table but he makes sure he’s not blocking Stiles’ view. It’s ironic because Stiles probably wouldn’t even notice what he’s missing. It’s not like he paid all that much attention to what’s happened in the first twenty-five minutes.

When Derek sits back down though, Stiles notices frantically, it’s a lot closer to where he’s been sitting before he got up to grab the snacks. Now, their thighs are actually pressed together and Stiles forcefully clears his throat to drown out the whimper that’s escaped his lips. He dearly hopes neither Derek nor his dad, especially his dad, picked up on it.

This is real torture, Stiles thinks. Whatever happened in the first half was nothing compared to this. He can feel the heat radiating from Derek’s body, feels every movement he’s making, their elbows brushing together whenever Derek takes a new slice of the dried apples.

Stiles thanks the heavens above for the invention of bowls because without the popcorn on his lap, he’d feel utterly helpless. Not that he’s sporting a boner when his dad’s around, god no. But he’s not ruling out any possibilities anymore. His eyes dart towards all the entrances and exits in the room to make out the quickest way to the bathroom, a bit as if he’s in one of the mission impossible movies. At least regarding the title, it’s actually pretty fitting. This _is_ a mission impossible.

Mission to not be overwhelmed by everything that is Derek Hale: impossible.

Stiles debates back and forth what’d be the smartest thing to do right now and settles for a strategic bathroom break when the next commercials roll around. Which happens about three minutes later and Stiles is already halfway up out of the couch when he sees his dad getting up too.

They both halt in their movement and look at each other for a second or two. Stiles is the one to give in because he knows the medication affects his dad’s bladder a lot and he’s not going to make him wait here just because he looks for an out of a situation to have a breather and not actually go to the restroom.

“You first,” Stiles says and motions his hand towards the hallway, sitting back down again.

“You good?,” Derek asks him a moment later and Stiles sees him looking at him out of the corner of his eye so he turns towards him, twisting his body a bit, causing their knees to be pressed together.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I like this,” Stiles says and motions his finger around between pretty much everything in the greater living room area. “Watching the show together, I mean. It’s different than being huddled up in bed in front of your laptop screen.”

“I like it too, having you here. It’s nice to share this with someone. Scott’s in bed when the show airs so I mostly watch it alone. Tried to get my parents into it but it’s not their thing and Laura’s at work at this time of the night. It bugs her because she loves the show so I sometimes tivo it so we can watch it again sometime later,” Derek says, not breaking their eye contact once.

“Sorry to be blunt but who’s Laura?” Stiles asks because he actually really doesn’t know and hopes dearly he didn’t forget something vital Derek told him before already.

“Oh, right. You don’t know. Laura is my sister. She lives in my parent’s house to save up money,” Derek explains and smoothly slides an apple slice into his mouth. It’s one of the sexiest things Stiles has seen in a long while.

Derek must be able to tell, too, that he’s got a certain effect on the man sitting next to him on the sofa is enticed since it takes Stiles definitely more than two blinks of his eyes to snap out of the stare to look back up at Derek’s eyes which are sparkling with something mischievous. Stiles gulps.

“You’re free to go now, son.”

Stiles is glad to notice Derek jumps a bit too upon the sheriff’s return. So it’s not just him being utterly lost in the moment.

“Thanks dad,” he murmurs and actually gets up from the couch this time, making his way to the small bathroom down the hallway.

Just like the kitchen and dining room area, everything’s got a warm and light décor and indirect light gives the rooms a pleasant, homely feeling. The more he gets to see from the house and the longer he’s here, Stiles reckons, the more he feels comfortable. A bit as if this is a place he could belong.

It’s a bold thought, he knows. But he can’t help himself. Not anymore. Not with how profound his feelings for Derek are getting. He would love to be part of his life, for Derek to _want_ Stiles to be part of his life.

Which is actually not too odd a thought. Not with how Derek’s been acting all of tonight. The looks he gave him. The touches. The attention.

Stiles splashes a handful of cold water in his face after checking if there’s a towel he can use to dry himself off. Not that he’d mind, particularly, to go back out with a dripping face. He’s done worse but you don’t have to overdo it, Stiles figures. And he’s thankful he excused himself for a bit since the cold water actually helps to clear his head a bit and that’ll be sorely needed once he’s back on the couch of doom, as he’ll refer to it from now on.

He comes back out when the episode’s already picked up and they’re in the middle of a noisy fight scene. He slides into his seat, leaning over to Derek, asking him what he’d missed. Mainly to hold up the pretence he’s actually watching.

It’s the worst decision of the night, by far, he finds out a moment later when Derek leans over to him and whispers into his ear.

Obviously so he won’t distract the sheriff too much from watching. But Stiles can’t quite help himself but to think that he’s also doing it to draw Stiles out. Not that Stiles minds terribly. It’s just that the goose bumps he’s getting upon Derek’s breath ghosting over his ear are higher than the Mt Everest and he fears the poor butterflies in his stomach all exploded.

He revels in the feeling too, though. Derek’s breath is hot but not unpleasantly so, it tickles Stiles’ skin and he actually lets his eyes fall shut for a second while Derek speaks. He grants himself not more than a second or so but this second alone was enough to make his entire body tingle with anticipation and excitement and Stiles can nearly grasp the tension hanging between them.

He shoots his dad a look but he’s luckily too engrossed in the final minutes of the show to recognise what’s going on less than two meters from him. Even though Stiles couldn’t put his finger on what exactly Is going on, either. All he knows right now is that it feels good. And so exciting he’s about to puke. Not literally of course. Hopefully not literally.

“Thanks,” Stiles says when Derek hasn’t said anything for a moment or two so reckons he’s done. Even though Stiles has got no clue what Derek told him or what exactly he’d missed, despite him asking Derek about it.

The other man seems to be aware of that because when Stiles turns his head to look at him, Derek’s gaze nearly pierces Stiles’ eyes because of its intensity. He doesn’t have it in him too look away though. He’s glad Derek takes over that part by turning his face back towards to the screen.

Stiles’ stomach sinks a little, actually, but it’s in vain as Derek’s hand brushes over Stiles’ hand that lies between them ever so lightly only to come to a halt eventually, enveloping Stiles’ hand completely.

Stiles could dance twenty happy dances up and down the house for all he cares. It’s the first intimate, really intimate thing happening since their two almost-kisses. He’s not sure what to do at first but then, he strokes his thumb alongside Derek’s lower thigh to show him he feels the same, shares his thoughts on everything that’s happened tonight. That he feels the same about them.

Derek squeezes his hand lightly and Stiles looks over to him, shoots him a small, private smile. Derek meets it with one of his own, just as private and content as Stiles’.

They may not have kissed yet, may not have voiced out their affection for each other verbally yet. But Stiles is absolutely certain that both of them will, when the time comes and he’s got this tingling feeling in his fingers it’ll be rather sooner than later.

They may not know what the future holds for them but how bad can it be when it’s them that get to decide?

 

~*~

 

“Thank you for the evening, Derek. I enjoyed it a lot,” John says and turns towards the other man to shake his hand.

Derek extends his hand too, shaking it gratefully. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. We should do it again soon.”

“Just say the word and I’ll be here,” John laughs before turning away, telling Stiles and Derek he’ll be bringing the leftovers to the car so they won’t get damaged on the way. “Wouldn’t wanna risk that. It’d be a shame,” he chuckles and crosses over to the side of the house.

It’s quite obvious he’s giving the two of them some privacy. Stiles could kiss him for it.

“So…,” Derek starts out but doesn’t let anything follow. He’s got one of his hands loosely stuffed into his pocket, the other hanging by his side.

“So,” Stiles repeats and looks at him with an open but also a tad bit of a stranded expression.

“I’m glad your dad enjoyed himself,” Derek proposes and Stiles is thankful for him taking over the course of conversation since he himself is a bit lost at the moment. There is something unsaid, something heavy hanging between them and Stiles hesitates to address it even though he usually is rather outspoken and direct, even when feelings are concerned.

“Yeah, me too,” Stiles agrees. “I’m glad everything went on without a hitch and the food you had was great. I mean, sorry… it was great in general but also for my dad and his new diet.”

“Kind of a lucky shot on my side, I’ve got to admit,” Derek tilts his head downwards and grins sheepishly, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. Stiles is utterly endeared by it.

“Either way,” he waves off. “And I’m glad Scott liked the present.”

“Liked? He loved it to bits. You’re his new superhero.”

“Oh stop, you’re full of it,” Stiles says but smiles at him nevertheless.

They fall silent after that, just looking at each other. Stiles isn’t sure how to make an elegant exit, given that they’re doing nothing but look at each other. Not that he’s ever been an established expert on this kind of thing.

Like the rest of the night, though, it’s Derek that breaks the ice by reaching out his hand and tangling his fingers with Stiles’ fingers, tenderly playing with them. “I… this is kind of new territory for me and I bet for you too so it’s not nearly as smooth as I’d like it to be,” he admits.

“Seriously? You’re way smoother than you think you are,” Stiles speaks up. “And I don’t mind a lack of smooth talk. I enjoy it when you’re… you know, when you’re you. Not that your smooth you isn’t you but, you know…” The tips of his ears are turning pink upon him starting to get muddled in his own sentences.

“I’m glad you like it,” Derek laughs, despite it, and squeezes Stiles’ hand lightly but grows more serious a second later. Not too serious for a smile falling onto his lips, though. “I would kiss you right now if your dad wasn’t be waiting in the car.”

“I know,” Stiles says and withdraws his eyes from their hands to look back up at Derek through his lashes, his cheeks colouring a bit at the thought of them finally kissing. “But I’ve got something to look forward to now, right?”

“Definitely,” Derek reassures him and his smile broadens, coloured by anticipation.

“Cool,” Stiles adds eloquently and squeezes the other man’s hand one last time before he lets go of it. “I’ll drive my old man back now. Thanks for tonight. It was great.”

“Yeah, it was. Thanks for coming.”

“You’re welcome. Even though it unfortunately isn’t the kind of coming I enjoy most,” Stiles retorts boldly with a wicked grin, revelling in the look he earns from Derek for it, seeing him so startled and with something that looks a hell of a lot like a blush.

To top it off, and because he can’t go home with at least some sort of kiss tonight, Stiles darts forward and places a kiss on Derek’s cheek before he bolts down the stairs and towards the car. He turns around one more time, waves goofily and laughs at seeing Derek not being able to do more than weakly lifting his hand in return because he seems too startled still.

It’s only seconds after he got into the car, already fasting his seatbelt that he catches his father giving him a doubting look.

“What?”

“Nothing,” the sheriff says. “Just enjoying your cute, innocent teenage love.”

Stiles punches his shoulder lightly. “Stop making fun of me.”

“I’m not making fun of you,” the sheriff waves off, grinning. “Even though I kind of expected you to go all in, son.”

Stiles starts the car and decides to simply not reply with anything to what his father said. Not pouring anymore gasoline into the already blazing fire, nope sir.

However, his dad wouldn’t be his dad if he’d drop it after this. “Especially considering earlier on the couch where y…”

“Oh my god, _please_ stop talking,” Stiles cries out loud, groaning desperately while driving down the path back towards the main road.

His dad laughs and Stiles wishes he had a mental eraser he could be using on his father. Too much blackmailing material in his father’s hands is hardly ever a good Thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for chapter 5 of Like Lullabies.
> 
> The beta has been done by the lovely MC. Thank you so much, Darling!
> 
> If you have any comments, questions, ideas or constructive criticism, feel free to send a message or a comment my way here or on my [Tumblr](http://possiblywonderful.tumblr.com).


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Stiles, are you by any chance talking about Derek Hale,” she asks.
> 
> “Uh,” Stiles stutters, taken aback by her question. “Yeah, we are? Why?” he asks cautiously.
> 
> “Oh, no reason in particular. I sometimes see him when I go over to my mom’s work place. She’s preschool teacher and Scott’s in her class,” she explains. “I just wondered. Didn’t know you two were... you know, that close.”
> 
> “Too bad he’s off the market now,” her friend adds and they both laugh and get out of their chairs.
> 
> Stiles laughs too but it’s utterly pathetic with a touch of desperation to it. Luckily, the girls don’t pick up on it, already waving their goodbyes and leaving the shop before his mind can catch up properly.

“It’s not a ‘please do it, I will love you forever’ kind of question, Stiles,” Lydia says and levels him with a matter-of-fact kind of look and takes another sip of her milkshake. “I want to see a picture of him if he’s as hot as you describe him to be.”

“What,” Stiles looks back at her with one of his typical exasperated ‘seriously’ glares. “Only if he’s hot? If he wouldn’t be hot according to the exaggerated modern day standards of hot and what people tell you is hot, you wouldn’t want to see a picture of him?”

“Don’t distract from the original topic, you know that won’t save you in the long run,” she says and throws a teenage girl at the table opposite of where she’s sitting a wink after catching her smiling at what Lydia said. “And of course I’d still want to see a picture of him even if some people would call him ugly. They’d be wrong, of course. He could look like a lamppost for all I care, he’s your boyfriend and you care about him so I care about him,” she says in a voice that sounds not even half as empathetic as the statement she just gave. But Stiles knows she is, has known her long enough by now to tell when she only appears stand-offish when she actually really does care.

“He’s not my boyfriend. And he doesn’t have Facebook, okay,” Stiles groans and wipes the countertop for the umpteenth time just so he can pretend he’s got something to do. Of course, he doesn’t actually but he doesn’t want to end up in a total deer in the headlights situation. Which happens sooner or later anyway with Lydia. In a good way most of the time, though. If that makes sense in any way. Stiles isn’t too sure himself.

“Has he told you he doesn’t,” Lydia asks.

“What? Of course he did,” Stiles retorts defensively.

“He didn’t, did he?” She levels him with a pointed look. “You only assume he doesn’t, right?”

Stiles mumbles out something that was intended to be a ‘so what’ but even he himself ends up not understanding it. It’s enough of an answer for Lydia though.

“Ask him,” she prompts.

“No, I’m not,” Stiles says hastily. “We don’t…”

“You don’t what, Stiles? Know each other that well,” she looks at him, obviously not convinced. “He told you he’d love to kiss you if it weren’t for your dad waiting in the car. You held hands and he bought you caramel popcorn. You love that stuff so much you once proposed to Allison because she bought it for you after you had a shitty day. I won’t forget Isaac’s face after she laughed and said she’d of course marry you any day because you’re a great catch,” Lydia laughs and even Stiles has to snort out a laugh because it, indeed, was one of the funniest faces Stiles has ever seen Isaac making.

“Okay, the first two I take. But the popcorn thing was nothing more than a mere coincidence. We’ve never talked about it before and I’ve never mentioned it,” Stiles reminds her and takes her empty glass to carry it over to the sink. “Want another one?”

“No, thanks. One’s enough. I’d take a water, though.”

“Sure,” Stiles nods and reaches for a glass in one of the free-hanging cupboards on the walls. “Still or fizzy today?”

“Still, please. And send him a message. You do text, right?”

“Only all the time,” Isaac throws in upon stepping out of the smaller room behind the counter.

“Stab me in the back, why don’t you,” Stiles throws him a look and hands Lydia the water.

“That’s for laughing about me having minor breakdown when Allison accepted your proposal. For three entire days, I was 100% convinced she had a thing for you,” Isaac looks at him unimpressed and leans against the counter.

It’s a slow day and not many customers are in the shop and the ones that are there are regulars and know Stiles and his friends well by now. Usually, Stiles wouldn’t be standing around, looking upmost lazy, when customers were around but this is a slower setting and he allows himself some downtime. Especially since he’s not seen Lydia in a week. Even though he’s not so sure anymore it was a good decision to have her over given the interrogation she’s practicing on him right now.

“I know, man. Remember how it was _me_ who brought over the junk food and the video games to console you that night? You weren’t even listening to me when I told you Allison doesn’t see anything in me. You’ve already had sulked yourself into the deepest pits of self-loathing hell,” Stiles snorts.

“First of all, that’s not funny,” Isaac cuts in. “And secondly, what the hell is it with you and your graphic language.”

“Don’t pick on the verbally gifted,” Stiles grins before he walks over to the two girls sitting at the front of the shop to bring them their bill. “That’ll be four dollars and fifty cents each, please,” he smiles at them and places the small piece of paper onto the table.

“Keep the change,” they both say after handing him two five dollar bills.

“Thanks a lot. Have a nice day and I’ll see you next week” he grins and is about to turn away when one of the girls, Sarah he knows by now, speaks up.

“Stiles, are you by any chance talking about Derek Hale,” she asks.

“Uh,” Stiles stutters, taken aback by her question. “Yeah, we are? Why?” he asks cautiously.

“Oh, no reason in particular. I sometimes see him when I go over to my mom’s work place. She’s preschool teacher and Scott’s in her class,” Sarah explains. “I just wondered. Didn’t know you two were... you know, _that_ close.”

“Too bad he’s off the market now,” her friend adds and they both laugh and get out of their chairs.

Stiles laughs too but it’s utterly pathetic with a touch of desperation to it. Luckily, the girls don’t pick up on it, already waving their goodbyes and leaving the shop before his mind can catch up properly.

Since they were the only customers, Stiles has got no restraints about collapsing into one of the chairs right next to him with a loud groan. “I’m so doomed.”

“Why,” Lydia looks at him confused.

“Why? _Why_? But you were present right now and heard what they said, right,” he nearly squeaks.

“I was and I did. I don’t see a problem, though,” she says and looks at him, just as confused.

“Me neither,” Isaac pipes in, leaning over the counter.

“What the… They basically called Derek and me boyfriends,” Stiles gasps. It’s bedazzling how the two of them can’t see what the problem at hand is even though it’s huge. It’s definitely not Stiles making this all up.

“So? You basically are boyfriends,” Lydia states.

“No, we’re _not_. Well, we are. But we’re _not_ ,” Stiles nearly trips over his own words.

“You’re not making much sense right now, by the way,” Isaac says.

“Thanks, you’re being _so_ helpful, Isaac. I should give you a raise,” Stiles snaps at him but Isaac just beams. On the one side because he’s being a feisty bastard and on the other because Stiles mentioned the word raise. He can definitely stuff it, that’s for sure. “It’s… Derek and I haven’t even kissed yet! We haven’t talked about the whole boyfriend-relationship-thing. We don’t know what we are, it’s not more than this mutual understanding that there’s…. something.”

“Then talk to him about it,” Lydia looks at Stiles.

“By starting out with what? Hey Derek, so nice to see you. How was your day? Mine was fine, I accidentally outed us as boyfriends which… oh my god. Oh my god, I’ve got no idea if he’s even okay with people knowing, let alone _talking_ about his sexuality like that,” Stiles gasps and now the panic really starts coming. He, indeed, has got no idea what Derek’s stance on this is.

It’s enough to make Lydia get up out of her chair and walk over to him, crouching down in front of Stiles and taking his hands into hers. “Stop it. Right now. Things are going to be fine. He would’ve told you if he’d be uncomfortable with people knowing, okay?”

“How could you possibly know,” Stiles looks at her, his eyes as big as saucers.

“From what you’ve told me, I take him for that kind of guy,” she shrugs.

“Yeah, I don’t think he’ll mind either,” Isaac walks over too. “He would not have flirted with you like that if he’d be scared of people finding out he’s into men.”

“Those are all assumptions. I can’t possibly… I should talk to him. I should warn him in case there are people who…”

“Stiles, will you calm down please,” Lydia cuts him off. “It’s going to be okay, alright?”

“I’m…,” Stiles attempts to say something when his phone starts ringing. He sighs and gets up out of the chair, not at all in the mood to talk to someone right now. He’s too busy freaking out.

When he snatches his phone out of the pocket of his jacket and looks at the display, however, his mood swings upon seeing it’s Derek who’s calling. His heart jumps into his throat both because he’s always all jittery to hear from him but also because he can’t shove what’s just happened from his mind.

He picks up, nevertheless, answering with an attempt at a casual but attentive ‘Hi’.

“Hey, how are you,” Derek asks and his voice sends shivers down Stiles’ spine.

“I’m doing great,” Stiles says and that was absolutely not convincing at all. “How are you?”

“You don’t sound okay. Is everything alright?” Derek asks and foregoes the question regarding his own wellbeing for now.

“Yeah,” Stiles sighs and rubs his free hand over his face. “Just some things in the shop. I’ll tell you when we see each other. Which… are you free tonight?”

“That’s actually why I’m calling. To ask you for a favour. A customer called and said he needed his ordered chairs delivered tonight instead of tomorrow because of an urgent appointment and asked if I could bring them over. It’s a one hour drive and it usually wouldn’t be a problem but I’ve got no one to watch over Scott while I’d be gone,” Derek sighs. “I would take him along but it’d be such a hassle for him. My parents and Laura are on vacation and Marin’s out visiting a friend three towns over. I could call her, of course, but…”

“Derek,” Stiles tunes in. “I can watch him, no problem. The shop is closing in twenty minutes anyway and cleaning up is nearly done too. I could be there at half past six, if that’s alright?”

“That’d be amazing, thank you, Stiles,” Derek lets out a relieved breath. “And Scott will be thrilled to see you.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing him, too,” Stiles hums, already turning around a bit to see what part of cleaning can be done right after he’ll have hung up the call so he can get going as soon as possible.

“Only him?” Derek asks in a playful pouting voice, making Stiles snort out a laugh.

“I hope that’s a rhetorical question,” Stiles says.

“Maybe,” Derek laughs before growing a bit more serious again. “Okay, I’m letting you go then and I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Cool. I’ll see you soon then,” Stiles says and hangs up, heaving out a deep sigh afterwards.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Lydia and Isaac looking at him searchingly, obviously waiting for him to tell them about the call. Stiles knows he doesn’t stand a chance and will sooner or later need to talk anyway so he might as well spill now.

“Derek asked me if I can watch over Scott tonight,” Stiles sighs and grabs the cloth from the sink and starts cleaning the tables.

“That’s great,” Isaac beams.

Stiles just shoots him a look.

“What?” Isaac frowns. “It _is_ great. He’s asking you to watch over his son. That’s kind of the biggest mark of confidence he could possibly be giving you.”

“He’s right, you know,” Lydia nods. “That’s pretty big.”

“I know it is, okay?” Stiles halts in wiping down the tables and looks at them. “And I go and blurt out his personal life to regulars at my shop. Ain’t I great?”

“Stiles, seriously, you m…,” Isaac speaks up but Stiles is already shaking his head.

“I won’t stop feeling awful about it until I’ve talked to Derek about it tonight. All I can do now is hope it’ll be okay, one way or the other.”

 

~*~

 

Stiles pulls up in front of Derek’s house five minutes early and kills the engine but doesn’t get out just yet. He needs a moment to calm himself, to catch a few deep breaths.

He’s had a lot of time for his mind to go on rampage in the last hour, ever since the incident with Sarah and her friend in his shop. The thoughts had been shooting themselves through his head, back and forth and all Stiles had been able to do was yield.

He isn’t sure how he should go about this, how to break it to Derek. There’s this definite something between them, that’s for sure, and they are getting closer but Stiles still doesn’t know that many things about Derek. He doesn’t know how Derek and Marin met. If she was his first serious relationship and if there’s been others after her. How Derek grew up and what his family was like. When Derek realised he’s bisexual and how long it took him to try things out for the first time.

And most importantly for Stiles, at the moment, was the question what Derek thought about coming out or if he was already open about his sexuality. Or, in the worst and most dreaded case, if he chooses to not be out at all.

Don’t dwell on things for too long and get right to them instead, is what his mom always told him. The sooner you tackle your problems, the faster they’ll be gone.

“I wish this would be easier, mom,” Stiles heaves out a deep sigh, grabs his bag from the passenger seat before he gets out of the car and heads over to the front porch. It takes less than ten seconds for the door to be opened and Stiles being met with Scott’s smiling face. “Stiles,” he grins and hugs him around his waist.

Stiles puts his bag aside and crouches down to properly hug Scott. “Hey there. How are you, little man?”

“I’m fine. I’m colouring a wolf in your book right now,” Scott nods solemnly and walks back inside, telling Stiles over his shoulder that he’ll show it to him. Stiles takes it as a ‘follow me’, snatches his bag and follows the little boy, closing the door gently.

He hears a bustling sound from the general direction of the kitchen so he makes way over there, finding Scott at the kitchen table. A gazillion pencils are scattered all over the table, surrounding the colouring book in the middle.

“Look,” Scott exclaims excitedly, pointing at a wolf in his book. He used mainly grey and earthy colours, staying pretty close to some of the authentic fur colours wolves have.

“That looks flipping amazing,” Stiles cheers and ruffles Scott’s hair who’s beaming up at him, obviously thrilled that Stiles is praising him for his art. “I bet there are some wolves out there somewhere with that _exact_ colouring in their fur.”

“Really?” Scott sounds awed, ogling his colouring book.

“Oh, there’s definitely a chance there are,” Stiles nods. “I mean there are white elephants, too. Why not a wolf that looks like that, huh,” he says and winks down at Scott who gapes up at him.

“What if I’d colour it pink, though?”

“Hm… I haven’t heard about a pink wolf yet but to be fair, I didn’t know many things until someone told me about them,” Stiles chuckles.

“I’m pretty sure there are no pink wolves out there, Scott.” Derek’s calm voice floats over to them from the foot of the staircase. He looks incredible, obviously fresh from the shower, his hair still damp.

Stiles can’t help but stare for a moment. Derek seems to notice too because his lips turn up into a grin when he walks over to the two of them, coming to a halt beside Stiles, placing his hand on Stiles’ lower back lightly. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Stiles gulps.

“Thanks for coming over on such a short term notice,” Derek says and strokes his finger over Stiles’ back through his shirt. Concentrating has never been a greater task.

“Nah,” Stiles shakes his head already while Derek’s still talking. “Don’t mention it. I love being here, getting to spend time with this fine young man,” Stiles nods his chin towards Scott and raises his fist which Scott instantly bumps his own into, making Derek chuckle out a laugh.

For a moment, Stiles feels like nothing is bothering him, light as a feather. The awareness something is up, though, comes drifting back to him slowly and he clears his throat. “Hey uhm… Do you have a moment?”

“I need to get going but I guess I can spare a minute,” Derek answers, throwing a look towards the clock on the wall. He leads Stiles over into the living room, his hand still firm on Stiles’ lower back. “What’s up? You okay?” Derek looks at him, a shade of concern edging into his expression.

“I uh…,” Stiles exhales deeply. “Something happened at the shop today. There’s this regular who comes by every week with friends or her family. Her name is Sarah,” Stiles explains. “And today, my friend Lydia came over to chat and Isaac was there too. We kind of… we started talking and I told them about you and the dinner and how amazing it was and how much...,” he takes a deep breath, casting his gaze downwards for a bit.

“We didn’t even talk loud, just like, regular conversation level. But when I went over to bring Sarah and her friend the bill, she asked me if we were talking about you. And I was so baffled by what she said, I kind of just answered with a dumbfounded ‘yes’ without thinking about it further and all she said was that she didn’t know that we were _that_ close and her friend added something about it being too bad for you being off the market,” Stiles says and keeps getting more agitated with every passing second because he now notices, yet again, how brilliantly dumb he’s acted.

“I swear, Derek, I’ve never meant for you to be pulled into it like… this and I never, never wanted to out you against your will and I promise, if there’s anything I can do to u…,” Stiles gestures his hands around aimlessly until Derek gets hold of one of them, lacing their fingers.

“Is this the reason you sounded so dejected on the phone earlier?” Derek asks, looking at him earnestly.

“Yeah, I…,” Stiles takes a deep breath, not sure what to say.

Two or three seconds pass and Derek doesn’t do anything apart from letting go of his hand and Stiles feels the panic rising in his chest. Dears that this is the moment he’ll be told to leave. That he ruined their relationship and destroyed what could’ve been absolutely amazing by not being able to shut the hell up.

What happens instead is Derek placing his hand in the crook of Stiles’ neck, his thumb caressing his jaw. “You don’t have to worry about it. I’m not hiding my sexuality. You could not have known that, of course, since I haven’t told you yet. I should’ve done that.”

“Nah,” Stiles mumbles, head casted downwards. “Wasn’t really a time and place for it.” He takes in a deep breath, trying to be subtle about it but probably failing horribly. Derek smells like a pleasant mixture of body wash, shampoo and aftershave and it’s not easy to be standing so close to him to _not_ notice these kind of details.

“Is there ever, though? There are better and worse situations but hardly ever an ideal one,” Derek says and his voice is as quiet as Stiles’. “We’ll talk about it later tonight, okay? But you don’t have to worry about it. It took you by surprise and the question was pretty random too, you’ve got to admit that.”

“Yeah, it was,” Stiles says, voice still small, but his heart is as light as it possibly could be with the weight of worrying lifted off it. “I’m glad it’s okay for you and that I didn’t fuck up too bad.”

Instead of commenting on it, Derek hums affirmatively and squeezes his shoulder before eventually letting go of Stiles. “I’ve really got to run now or I’ll definitely be late. But I could bring a bit of food back with me tonight. We could have a drink and maybe talk a bit?”

“Only non-alcoholic ones though since I’m driving,” Stiles reminds Derek, playfully earnest tone in his voice.

“Goes without saying,” Derek grins and leans forward and for a split second, Stiles’ heart stops beating upon thinking Derek will kiss him. Which… he kind of does but it’s on the cheek and it doesn’t really make that much of a difference in the end because Stiles’ face heat up anyway. Derek lingers for a moment too long for it being casual but a second too little for it being decidedly intimate.

“Dinner shouldn’t be a problem. Just throw something together Scott likes and he’ll be fine. You can watch a bit of TV after it or play, whatever you want but it’s bedtime at eight tonight,” Derek tells Stiles and reaches for his jacket when he’s reached the hallway.

“Okay. Anything else I’ve got to pay attention to? Allergies, possible medication or so?” Stiles asks, following Derek to the door.

“He’s got asthma but he doesn’t need to take a daily medication for it or anything. He’s got an inhaler though, in case he needs it. There’s one on his bedside table upstairs, one in the kitchen cupboard right beside the fridge and one in the living room in the drawer of the DVD cupboard,” Derek explains and Stiles tries to remember everything.

Derek chuckles and when Stiles looks up, he catches Derek looking at him with an amused expression. “What?” he asks a bit confused, a smile tugging at his lips nevertheless.

“Nothing. ‘S just, I could practically see the mental list you were making,” Derek smirks. “Everything I’ve told you is on a list, too. It’s pinned to the noticeboard in the kitchen.”

“Thank god,” Stiles exhales, grinning at Derek sheepishly. “My memory is great, usually, but I like to have backups too.”

“You could always call me, too, if you weren’t sure about something. But I’m certain you’ll be doing just fine. You’re great with Scott and he adores you. Things will be peachy.”

“From your lips to god’s ears,” Stiles laughs, reaching for the door handle after Derek has stepped out onto the front porch. “I’ll see you later, Derek.”

“Yeah. See you later, Stiles,” Derek replies, sending him a fond smile, making a warm shiver run down Stiles’ spine.

 

~*~

“So, you like… you watched all the Harry Potter movies in one day,” Scott looks at him with big eyes, the fork with one of the carrot slices halted mid-way to his mouth.

“Yeah, I did,” Stiles grins. “It was pretty cool but also really, really long.”

“How long,” Scott asks, ultimately managing to move the fork to his mouth and eat the carrot.

“Uh,” Stiles mutters, mentally counting the hours, give or take one to two hours since he’s not sure how long it actually is. “About twenty hours or so? Give and take.”

“That’s nearly a complete day,” Scott states and looks at Stiles a bit as if he thinks he’s either insane or insanely cool for doing that.

“I know but it’s wooorth it,” Stiles sing-songs and scrapes the remains of his dinner together with his fork on his plate so he can shove them onto his spoon. “You should do it, too, when you’re older.”

“Why when I’m older,” Scott asks dejected, pushing his lips forward, forming a pout and his puppy dog expression is in full force.

“Because,” Stiles answers, having a hard time to not give in and tell him they’re starting to watch them right this second. “I think you’ll enjoy the books a _lot_ more when you haven’t seen the movies yet. Because no matter how hard you try, you’ll always end up having the images of the movies inside your head for everything while reading instead of your own. At least for a bunch of things and I think that’d be sad. It’s so much better to create your own images and pictures of what you think everything looks like.”

“Oh…,” Scott murmurs, blinking at him for a second. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“It does,” Stiles agrees and reaches for his water glass.

They end up talking about Harry Potter for the rest of the dinner all the way up to them flopping down on the couch.

It’s incredibly easy and pleasant to talk to Scott. Stiles enjoys it wholeheartedly and could be doing it for hours on end. The boy is really smart and bright for his age but also has got this genuine excitement and curiosity for so many things and is not shy to ask questions about what he considers to be important. He’s a lot like Stiles when he was younger and he sees a great deal of himself in Derek’s son. Maybe that’s one of the main reasons they get along so exceptionally well.

“So, how about one episode of Sesame Street and then we’ll head upstairs, get you ready for bed and I’ll read you a story,” Stiles looks at Scott who reaches for the blanket lying next to him to cuddle up under it.

“Yeah, sounds cool,” the boy nods and reaches for the remote control to hand it to Stiles.

“Thank you, dear sir,” Stiles bows his head, mimicking a voice the British gentleman in the movies always use.

“You’re welcome, Madame,” Scott giggles, earning himself a tickle to the side from Stiles.

“Oi! You’re being cheeky, huh,” Stiles laughs and tickles Scott some more, absolutely thrilled by the way he nearly falls apart from laughing so much.

He doesn’t torture him much longer even though it’s tempting since Scott really is utterly cute when he squeaks with laughter, curling himself into a ball to keep Stiles from tickling him any further.

“You okay there, buddy?” Stiles asks and pats Scott’s back.

“Yeah,” the little boy answers and another giggle bubbles out of him. “That was really exhausting, though.”

“I bet. Good thing you’re getting to rest and watch TV now, right,” Stiles winks and switches through the channels to find the one where Sesame Street is playing and puts the remote back onto the coffee table before making himself comfortable on the couch. Which is not a hard task because this couch is comfy as hell to begin with.

What catches him off guard though, is when Scott slides over to him and rests his head on Stiles’ side, sneaking his arm around him and draping the blanket over himself. Stiles was already pretty confident Scott liked him and he can definitely say he likes Scott for a great deal too. But to see that he’s already _this_ comfortable around Stiles and welcomes him into his life to this extent, that he’s 100% comfortable with cuddling up to him on the couch while watching his favourite TV show is mind baffling.

And it makes Stiles happy beyond reason.

 

~*~

 

It’s around a quarter to eight when Scott speeds up the stairs to the first floor after Stiles has told him to go put on his pyjamas on while he turns off the TV and folds the blanket up and that he’ll meet him in the bathroom to help him with the teeth brushing.

Scott had thrown him an unimpressed look, telling him that he’s by far old enough to brush his teeth on his own but that he doesn’t mind Stiles’ company and that, if Stiles needed to ‘brush up’ his own teeth cleaning skills, he’s more than willing to show him. Stiles had to keep himself from snorting out a laugh upon Scott’s pun and made a mental note to congratulate Derek on his son’s humouristic talent.

Stiles loves these kind of moments though, in which kids say something so unexpected and yet so funny that the grownups are just left standing there for a moment, contemplating how this six year old just came up with something so witty.

Stiles is now making his way upstairs too, taking in all the new things he hasn’t seen so far since he hasn’t been upstairs in Derek’s house yet. The interior looks very similar to the rooms downstairs, everything held in light wood and comfy furniture. There’s a huge collection of pictures hanging on one of the walls in the hallway, showing many smiling people that all kind of look alike and all kind of look incredibly handsome. Probably a Hale family picture collection, Stiles figures but doesn’t stop to properly look at it. Even though Derek and him are growing closer each day, it still feels like a step he doesn’t want to take just yet and not without Derek inviting him to do so.

He hears water running from down the hallway so he follows that sound and it, indeed, leads him to a large bathroom. In it is Scott, standing on a small stool, holding his toothbrush under the stream of water.

“Hey buddy, all done already?”

“Yes,” Scott nods and bares his teeth in a wide smile for further proof.

“Awesome. So you’re left with the face washing part, I assume,” Stiles says and walks over to the sink to grab the wash cloth hanging on one of the hooks on the wall. “Whoa, I _love_ Spiderman,” he exclaims upon seeing the familiar figure on top of a blue and red pattern

“Me too,” Scott cheers and when Stiles turns his face to shoot him a grin he sees Scott stretching down his Pyjama top with his hands for Stiles to show him the Spiderman print on it.

“This is seriously _so_ cool, man,” Stiles says and holds up his fist for a fist bump which Scott meets delightedly. “Okay. Now. Face washing.”

Scott is actually really uncomplicated when it comes to the whole getting-ready-for-bed routine, Stiles finds. Stiles can vaguely remember how much of a fuss he himself used to makes sometimes when he was Scott’s age. He sometimes argued for over twenty minutes why it would be so much more beneficial (actual word he used because he picked it up on the evening news) for everyone if he’d stay up longer. His mom would always listen to him and nod gently only to then tell him no and that he should head to bed or else, no story. Considering how predictable Stiles had been when it came to books and stories, it worked every single time.

After another five to ten minutes, Scott is all squeaky clean and finally cuddled up in bed, looking at Stiles expectantly. “What book do you want to read me?”

“Uh…,” Stiles turns around slightly with his upper body and looks at him. “Isn’t that my question? What book do _you_ want to read?”

“Harry Potter. Because we’ve talked about it when we had dinner,” Scott elaborates to which Stiles shows him a thumbs up and fishes the Chamber of Secrets out of the cupboard. “Mind if I join you?” he asks and nods his chin towards the end of Scott’s bed.

Scott shakes his head in answer and scoots over, making room for Stiles.

“Thanks,” Stiles says and sits down on top of the covers, his back leaning against the wall and his legs crossed. “Who’s that, by the way?” Stiles asks Scott, looking at the stuffed wolf Scott’s holding.

“That’s Bolt,” Scott tells him, turning the wolf so Stiles can see his face properly.

“Oh, well, it’s very nice to meet you, Bolt,” Stiles says, nods his head and takes Bolt’s paw to shake it, making Scott chuckle.

“Okay, here’s the marker,” Stiles murmurs to himself after he returned his attention back to the book, flipping the respective page open, scanning it briefly. “Oohh, The Burrow is coming up. Amazing.”

“What’s the burrow?” Scott asks curiously.

Stiles simply shakes his head, telling him that great things are lying ahead of them and starts reading.

 

~*~

 

A thing Stiles always loved about books is that he can lose himself in them. Whenever he needed a timeout from the world, he’d pick up a book and read. Or he’d pop an audio book in and let the voice carry him into whichever world he wants to travel to.

Scott seems to be quite alike in that matter since every now and then, Stiles looks up from the book while reading and always finds Scott gaping at him, his eyes full of wonder. He does grow visibly more tired, the longer Stiles reads but it doesn’t change the way he looks at him. Stiles can practically see the world Scott’s creating inside his head and he can relate so much to it, remembers how he first picked up the Harry Potter books and how they swallowed him whole.

They still hold a deep, significant meaning for him and are still kind of a place he can retreat to. He hopes dearly that Scott will love the books as much and that they have a similarly big influence on him. From what Stiles can see so far, though, things look promising.

Stiles doesn’t know exactly how long he’s been reading but at least fourty minutes must’ve passed when he sees movement out of the corner of his eyes, causing him to stop reading for a moment, lifting his head.

It’s Derek, standing in the doorway, his arms crossed in front of his chest and a fond smile on his lips.

“Hey,” Stiles greets him. “We are reading Harry Potter right now.”

Derek chuckles. “We?”

“Yeah, Scott and m…,” Stiles states but cuts off in the middle of the sentence when he lays his eyes on Scott, finding the boy fast asleep, cuddled into his pillow and Bolt cradled to his chest. “Well, then I guess _I_ was reading Harry Potter right now.”

Derek grins and enters the room, making his way over to Scott’s bed. He leans down and places a gentle kiss onto his son’s head and Stiles is so touched and endeared by this gesture, he feels as if an arrow shot him straight through the heart.

“Wanna go downstairs? Food is waiting,” Derek says while he turns off the small lamp on Scott’s bedside table.

“Definitely,” Stiles agrees, puts the marker into the book and gently swings his legs over the edge of the bed to not wake Scott up. What he didn’t bank on was his legs having fallen asleep from the time he’s been sitting there cross-legged. He’s not exactly a graceful person to begin with but the way he tries to keep himself from faceplanting right now is far from good and evil.

It would not have taken much if it weren’t for Derek and his ninja-like reflexes that made him reach out and wrap one of his arms around Stiles’ waist, the other steadying him at his shoulder. “Careful,” Derek whispers and shoots Stiles an amused look. “Don’t want you to hit your head.”

“Thanks,” Stiles replies, his face covered in a pink shade of embarrassment. Firstly because he nearly cracked his head open on Scott’s bedpost and secondly because he’s a bit too fond of the way Derek’s arms around him feel. Especially since they’re still in Scott’s room and no, no, no. Definitely no.

Which is why Stiles folds himself out of Derek’s arms, sending him a smile and heads over to the door, only realising belatedly that he still carries the book in his hand. He makes a u-turn back to the cupboard, puts the book away and then, at last, exits the room, followed by an amused chuckle on Derek’s side.

“I have you informed that I happen to be a bit clumsy and gangly sometimes and my mind tends to wander off, too. Consider yourself warned,” Stiles announces while he walks down the stairs and back into the kitchen, following the smell of food.

Stiles could smell pizza a hundred meters against the wind, if he had to, and Derek is officially a saint. At least when it comes to picking out food for Stiles. He had hit a jackpot with the caramel popcorn and now he’s also buying him pizza? Stiles will head over to the jeweller next thing in the morning to get their engagement rings ordered.

“Duly noted. But I don’t mind as long as you don’t hurt yourself and you keep getting that cute blush,” Derek walks past Stiles, honest to god _winking_ at him.

“I’m not even listening to you right now. All I’m hearing and seeing is Pizza,” Stiles shakes his head, keeping his face down because he’s, of course, blushing again. Just to proof Derek’s point. Destiny is a sour loser.

Derek snorts outs a laugh. Whether it is because Stiles is blushing again or because of what Stiles said doesn’t really matter as long as Derek keeps laughing. It’s one of the most addictive things Stiles has ever encountered and Derek’s got such a pleasant laugh, sending warm shivers down Stiles’ spine. It’s the kind of laugh that feels like a warm blanket you want to wrap yourself up in, Stiles thinks to himself. Like a big mug of your favourite hot chocolate on a cold winter day, sitting in front of the fireplace and oh my god, Stiles must’ve turned into a Nicholas Sparks novel without noticing.

Thankfully, Derek pulls him out of his thoughts and hands him a plate. “I figured you had dinner with Scott so I only got one larger one for the two of us.”

“Perfect. Even though I would’ve had space in here for it after _three_ full dinners. It’s _pizza_ ,” Stiles responds, rubbing his hand over his belly in circular motions.

“So I guess you like pizza,” Derek smirks and puts two slices onto his own plate.

“Sharp mind you’ve got there. Ever considered changing professions and working for the CIA, or so,” Stiles mocks and earns himself a shove from Derek, laughing despite of it though.

“Rest assured. If you, due to whatever reason, ever end up not working in your shop anymore, you could always work as a comedian.” Derek takes his plate and two glasses in his other hand and walks over into the living room. “Can you bring the coke, please?”

“Sure,” Stiles answers and grabs the bottle from the table, following the other man only to find him already slouched down onto the couch.

“Eating in front of the TV? Is it treat day or _what_ ,” Stiles grins.

“Just decided yes, it is treat day. Unless you are dying to eat at the dinner table.”

“Don’t get me wrong, your dinner table is all kinds of amazing,” Stiles puts on a serious expression, nodding along to what he’s saying. “As amazing as dinner table can get. But eating in front of the TV beats practically everything. That and your couch is so comfy, it’s a sin.”

“Wait till you try out my bed,” Derek mumbles into his slice of pizza.

Stiles hits his knee into the coffee table, nearly knocking over the glasses. “Pardon?!”

“Hm?” Derek looks up at him, a face of complete innocence. Like, Bambi and puppy eyes levels of innocence. Curse that man and his mighty weapons.

“Uh…” Stiles is at a loss for words, his mind still dazed with Derek talking about Stiles being in his bed. It’s not like Stiles hasn’t thought about it yet. He did many, _many_ times, to be quite frank. But Derek saying something like that, and nearly straight into his face too, is a whole new level of wow. And not something Stiles will be addressing this moment.

“Nothing,” he therefore concludes eventually and lets himself slump down into the sofa after putting down the coke and his plate onto the table, his head still faced towards Derek who, after he noticed Stiles staring at him dumbfounded, looks back at him and raises his eyebrows questioningly. His lips are quivering though, as if Derek’s obviously trying his hardest not to break out into a smirk.

Stiles decides it’ll be best to simply grab his plate and start eating instead. Food is always a solution and has helped him through many difficult times already and it won’t fail him this time either.

And he’s right since after he had picked up his plate, Derek does the same, takes another bite of his pizza and reaches for the remote control, switching through the channels for a while until Stiles tells him to stop.

“Go back one channel. Groundhog day was playing there,” he says.

“Sure,” Derek hums and switches back to the previous channel before putting the remote back onto the coffee table. “Started about an hour ago, though,” he adds.

“Awesome,” Stiles cheers, still chewing around a piece of pizza. “Sorry,” he mumbles, quickly swallowing only to then shoot Derek a sheepish grin. The other doesn’t seem to mind though and only answers with a grin of his own. “It doesn’t really matter if it’s been playing for ten minutes or an hour, really,” Stiles goes on.

“Why? Seen it already?” Derek asks and Stiles raises his eyebrows at him.

“Oh, I don’t know? Only thirty times by now?”

“Seriously? Thirty times?” Derek asks and sounds more surprised than Stiles thought he’d be.

“Uh, yeah? It’s a classic. And Phil is amazing, one of the best onscreen characters out there. Bill Murray is so cool,” Stiles rants and reaches for the coke and his glass. He turns around looks at Derek, nodding his head towards Derek’s glass.

“Definitely. I loved him in Lost in Translation. And yes, please,” Derek nods, thanking Stiles when he hands him the glass.

“I don’t know, man,” Stiles sighs out and leans back again. “Wasn’t my movie. Not a huge Woody Allen fan anyway.”

“Me neither, normally. But I liked that one. Matchball was pretty decent too,” Derek muses and takes a sip of his drink.

“I watched the Vicci Christina Barcelona one recently and was so confused and like… what was the purpose of that movie,” Stiles wonders out loud, looking at Derek expectantly as if the other man holds the answer to that question. Who knows, maybe he does?

“Haven’t seen it.” Okay, or maybe he doesn’t.

“Good on you.”

“Sounds a bit like you didn’t like that one all that much,” Derek grins and gets up from the couch, empty plate in his hand. “More pizza?”

“Totally,” Stiles woops and is about to get up when Derek tells him to stay put and takes his plate from him. “And you’ve guessed right. I didn’t like it.”

~*~

 

They finish the movie, commenting on it every now and then about anything and everything that piques their interest. Stiles finds it’s comfortable to watch movies with Derek like this, lazing around on the couch, having pizza and soda. It’s one of his favourite hobbies anyway and spending it with Derek is great and not tense at all, like he feared.

Stiles was hesitant to dive right into this headfirst because he was afraid things between them could get awkward, given their relationship still being undefined and all. But it’s the complete opposite, actually. They’re relaxed, make jokes and laugh about the most random things. Stiles is over the moon. And they haven’t even _kissed_ yet.

If Derek stays true to his words from the other night, though, they will and rather soon too. It makes his entire body tingle and his mind all giddy, thinking about how it could and probably even _will_ happen tonight. Not that he doesn’t want it to happen but _damn_.

“Fancy a drink out on the porch?” Derek offers when the movie is done and they carry their things back into the kitchen, sorting the plates into the dishwasher.

“Sounds cool,” Stiles agrees and walks over to his bag to grab his jumper. It’s not full on autumn yet but the nights get chilly already and he’s not overly fond of feeling cold so he usually carries a jumper or a jacket with him these days. Putting it one while walking back to where Derek stands, he catches the other man giving him a full once over and if Stiles blatantly uses the opportunity to give him his most shameless performance of putting on a piece of clothing, then so be it. Derek certainly does seem to enjoy it, giving the way his eyes are fixated on Stiles.

It thrills him to no end to have Derek watching him like that and if he’d have 1% less self-control, he’d jump the man right then and there. But one thing after the other, he reminds himself once more and eventually comes to a halt in front of Derek. “Good to go.”

Derek’s first attempt at an answer fails miserably and he only manages to get out a halfway decent ‘great’ after clearing his throat. Twice.

This will be so much fun, Stiles thinks because if he’s anything, he’s definitely and most of all a big tease.

Derek grabs them two bottles of a yet to be determined beverage and leads them out onto the back porch. Stiles knows Derek’s garden already, remembers it from Scott’s birthday and it’s not like he could see that much anymore anyway since it’s dark already.

Derek motions his hand towards two big, comfy-looking chairs close to the door, sinking down into one himself after handing Stiles one of the bottles.

Stiles turns it around to check what it is but he doesn’t even have to check the label to see it’s beer. “Hey uh… I fear I won’t be able to drink this. I’m driving, you know?”

“Don’t worry, it’s non-alcoholic,” Derek assures him and takes the first swig of his own bottle.

“Non-alcoholic beer? Seriously?” Stiles levels him with an unimpressed look while sinking into the other chair. “What’s next? Sugar free chocolate? Meat free meat? Waterless water?”

Derek chuckles and shakes his head at the same time. “It’s German beer so it’ll be good, I promise. I like it and have it ever since a friend of mine introduced me to it.”

“This better be good,” Stiles warns him teasingly and takes a hesitant sip of his own drink only to find that it actually is just that. Good. Really good, in fact. “Oh my god.”

“I know,” Derek hums. “I didn’t believe it at first either. But here we are.”

“I’m ordering twenty,” Stiles deadpans and takes another sip of beer.

The fall silent for a while after that, just enjoying each other’s company and the nice, mellow night. Stiles somehow wants to say something, wants to talk because he’s always got this urge to talk, to fill the silence but on the other hand, he’s also content with not saying anything. With simply sitting here like this and, for once, not saying anything. It’s not like they’re in any kind of rush.

Stiles halfway finished his beer when he, in the end, does speak up. Funny enough, Derek chooses the exact same moment to raise his voice too, causing them to laugh lightly.

“After you,” Derek offers and Stiles won’t start one of this ‘no please after you’ talks so he just advances and says what he initially wanted to say.

“I wanted to ask if your job went down fine.”

“Yeah, it was okay. The customer thanked me a billion times for being so helpful and even gave me extra money. I was actually a bit taken aback because he’s a good customer, had him for years by now, and it was no problem at all. I mean, only thanks to you of course,” Derek quickly adds and looks a bit as if he’s a little embarrassed for making it sound as if he takes it for granted.

“Don’t worry, I know what you mean,” Stiles smiles and lowers the bottle in his hands.

“Did you, uh… was tonight okay?” Derek asks, looking a bit hesitant to ask. A bit as if he’s afraid of negative feedback. Which is curious since Stiles would clearly have told him right away and not close to two hours after Derek returned.

“Stop looking like I will grill you in a second. I’m still here, ain’t I?” Stiles laughs and Derek visually relaxes. “It was great. I enjoyed it a lot. Like, Scott’s such a great kid. We had a long talk about Harry Potter throughout dinner and it was profounder than some of the talks I’ve had with grownups. We then watched an episode of Sesame Street before heading upstairs and getting ready for bed. Excellent taste, by the way,” Stiles grins.

Derek looks confused.

“The Spiderman merch, man,” Stiles explains and Derek’s face lights up with understanding.

“Yeah,” he says. “Scott’s crazy about it. Second favourite thing after wolves, I’d say. But wolves are, above everything, still his all-time favourites. Which is great, I think. I like how he’s genuinely interested in things concerning nature and wildlife.”

“It’s pretty cool,” Stiles agrees. “I mean, maybe he even ends up going into that direction with work. Like a vet or something,” Stiles muses.

“I’d definitely be in favour of that. Even though, in the end, it doesn’t really matter as long as it makes him happy,” Derek ponders.

“You really are a great father,” Stiles blurts out all of a sudden but he really couldn’t keep it to himself any longer. Not with what Derek said just now and the way he looked so filled with love every single time he talks about Scott or Stiles sees him with his son.

Derek turns his head towards Stiles, a surprised expression on his face. “Thank you. I, uh… this kind of comes out of the blue but… thank you,” he murmurs, shy, clearing his throat afterwards.

“Not so big on the compliments either, I see,” Stiles grins, trying to lighten the mood and Derek takes him up on it instantly.

“Definitely not,” he shakes his head. “I mean, I’m grateful but I’m also really awful at receiving them. Memo to self: practice on compliments.”

Stiles bursts out laughing, affectionately though. “You’re such a goof,” he chortles, nudging Derek’s knee with his own.

“You’re one to talk,” Derek retorts but thankfully doesn’t look too snubbed. “But in all seriousness, Stiles. Thank you for helping me out, tonight. And thank you for being so great with Scott.”

“Hey, it’s not hard to be, okay? Like I said, he’s an amazing kid, so fun to be around. I merely tag along and follow his lead,” Stiles waves off.

“No, you don’t,” Derek objects, his voice certain. “You really bring out the best in him which is not always easy because he can be quite a handful energetic bundle sometimes. But you always talk to him on an eye-to-eye level. Never looking down on him. Figuratively,” Derek chuckles. Definitely the goofy type of humour there and Stiles loves it to bits and pieces.

“I hate it when people treat kids like they’re not smart enough to get things or are not old enough. They’re the same as us, you know? Sure, some topics are sensitive and not appropriate at a certain age. But just because they’re younger doesn’t mean they don’t _get_ things. You just have to help them get it sometimes, use different words and explanations and I really talked myself into a frenzy now,” Stiles chortles and sways his bottle around a bit, watching the rest of the beer pivot around gently.

“I couldn’t agree more. I love talking about these things,” Derek admits without any hesitation. “And I uh, love talking to you so by all means, don’t hold back.”

Stiles shoots him a wicked smile, thrilled by Derek’s confession. “Thanks, man. That’s kind of one of the biggest compliments you can give me. Some people tell me it’s hard to talk to me because I talk so much and too fast sometimes and I make all these weird topic jumps that only make sense to me. And my dad and Isaac on good days.”

“I’m not having trouble following you so far, do I? And besides, fast is not always bad,” Derek teases and cocks his eyebrow in a way that screams ambiguity from the highest rooftops. Stiles wants to jump him.

“Maybe that’s one of the reasons why Scott and I get along so well. He’s a speed talker too.”

“Most definitely is,” Derek nods and drinks up the last bit of his beer. “But uh… there’s something you wanted to talk to me about. About the thing in your shop? Only if you’re up for it, of course,” Derek makes sure to add.

“Oh. Right. I kind of forgot,” Stiles laughs quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just… uh. It kind of freaked me out? A lot? Like, the thought of accidentally having outed you was horrible. I felt so bad and didn’t know what to do.”

For a moment, a long moment, Derek only looks at him and his expression is harder to read than Stiles would like. It changes eventually though, turning into something akin to gratitude. “I know it’s pretty futile to tell you not to worry since it won’t help you if you don’t know it in the respective situation. But still, you don’t need to worry about it. I don’t exactly go around, parading my sexuality but I’m not hiding it either.”

“Good,” Stiles huffs out a breath and runs his hands over his face after he put his bottle down onto the small table between them for a second. “It kind of _really_ freaked me out. I know I would’ve been pretty messed if this would’ve changed things between us. It would obviously be for a reason and you would have had every right to not want me around anymore b…”

“Stiles,” Derek cuts him off very decisively. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m… way past the times where my sexuality was something I was unsure and anxious about. It’s long in the past. I’ve been on a couple of dates with both women and men since Marin and I broke up, all of them in public. People have seen me with these people. There was a bit of commotion at first when I was taking out Jasper for dinner but that settled pretty quickly, too. It’s a bonus if your family is well-liked and you have two of the most intimidating people for your sisters,” Derek laughs and Stiles can’t help but grin along.

“Sounds like fun and comfy family get togethers, then.”

“Oh, they are. But talking about my sexuality, even I couldn’t label it, if I had to. It’s more of a… fluid thing,” he says and makes a wavelike motion with his hand.

“Same goes for me. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’m bisexual but I don’t know if I like guys better or am more of a girls kinda guy, you know?”

“Why would you want to force yourself into a concept you’re pretty sure you don’t fit into 100%?” Derek asks and he sounds genuinely curious as if he really wants to get behind why Stiles is eager to belong to one of the accepted and fixed categories.

“I’ve kind of got this thing where I want to define everything to its tiniest little detail. I’m really into research and all, anyway, and when I myself am concerned, there seems to be no difference.”

“Just be your own concept. It’s nothing you need to brand mark, as long as you feel comfortable it’s good. Experiencing things and finding yourself is great but force and peer-group pressure shouldn’t be the reason behind it.”

“Ever heard about the concept of high school or…,” Stiles trails off and it’s supposed to be a joke, mostly is too, but there’s some sober truth and experience behind it.

“I did,” Derek answers simply.

“Oh god, you were one of the cool kids, weren’t you,” Stiles looks at him indignantly.

Derek doesn’t say anything in return.

“You totally were, I knew it,” Stiles half-shrieks because it was so obvious Derek was one of the cool kids. Probably captain of all sport teams at the same time while he also aced the exams _and_ was a teachers fave.

“I wasn’t,” Derek interrupts Stiles’ train of thought before it can speed off any further, though.

“And I’m supposed to believe that?”

“You’re not supposed to believe anything. I’m telling you nevertheless,” Derek shrugs and gets up out of his chair, smiling easily. “Another?”

It takes Stiles a second to understand what Derek’s referring to until his eyes fall onto the slightly raised, empty beer bottle in Derek’s hand. “Uh, no, thanks. I’m still good,” he answers and lifts his own bottle a bit.

Derek simply nods and heads inside.

Stiles takes a deep breath while he fidgets around, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

 

**To: Isaac [22:57]**

I’m so gone it’s pathetic

 

He doesn’t expect Isaac to answer in time before Derek comes back and is already busy stuffing his phone back into his pocket when it buzzes, a new text coming in.

 

**From: Isaac [22:53]**

so you’re good?! things went fine?

 

**To: Isaac [22:53]**

yeah

 

It’s all Stiles manages to type before he quickly hits _send_ upon hearing Derek return. He feels the phone vibrate again when he actually puts his phone back into his pocket this time. He knows it’ll be Isaac scolding him for being so taciturn and to give him more info.

“Everything alright?” Derek asks, stepping back out onto the porch.

“Yeah, just shot Isaac a quick text. He worries about me all the time, you know. Very paternal, that man” Stiles grins and hopes Derek sees how pointedly sarcastic he’s being. He doesn’t want to give him a false image about his best friend.

“I see,” Derek shoots him a smirk while sitting back down in his chair, making Stiles’ skin tingle. “Now. I’ve got a question of my own.”

“Shoot,” Stiles says and makes an inviting motion with his hand.

“What did you say to the girls? When they told you they consider us boyfriends.”

Stiles’ eyebrows shoot up in surprise upon Derek’s question and it takes a second to utter out any words. “Well, uh… Actually nothing. I only laughed desperately. Looking back on it, it’s actually a bit creepy.”

Derek looks surprised, as if he didn’t expect Stiles’ answer. Stiles isn’t sure it’s the good kind of surprised so he makes sure to keep talking, to explain himself further.

“I was really flashed by their question, you know? Like, after the dinner, I did think about this whole boyfriends thing between us already. A lot, to be honest. But it was weird to be asked the b-question by someone I only know fleetingly and before I could pay further attention to our… relationship, I was already freaking out over accidentally outing you.”

Derek nods and takes a sip of his beer before he speaks up again. “And if it’s me asking you, what will your answer be?” He looks straight at Stiles, his look not faltering for a bit, his expression even.

“I uh… wow, this is the big moment, huh?” Stiles clears his throat, nervousness spreading through his entire body because it obviously is _the_ moment. “I would love to be. Boyfriends, I mean. With you. Us.” Wow. Smooth.

Derek doesn’t seem to mind, though, because in the middle of Stiles talking, he already started smiling and by the time Stiles has finished, his entire face is lit up like a department store. “Me too,” he simply says.

“So is that, like, a hypothetical ‘me too’ in which you’re saying you like the idea of us but we won’t be getting together or-,” Stiles drags the last bit out and he feels incredibly stupid for asking this but he really is done with taking chances and guessing his way around a relationship.

“No, it’s the actual-real-deal ‘me too’,” Derek assures him and smiles one of his blinding and too rare full-face smiles. Stiles appreciates Derek’s smaller, fond smiles he wears so often but these, Stiles thinks to himself, these smiles he loves the most.

“So,” Stiles says and his breath is a bit shallow in the light of the moment. “Are we… together now?”

“I’d love us to be,” Derek declares before he adds “there’s a ‘but’ to it though.”

“Oh,” Stiles gulps and the sheer excitement makes way for the returning nervousness. “What is that but? I’m not someone for an open relationship or that whole ’friends with benefits’ thing, just so you know.”

Derek already shakes his head while Stiles is still talking. “Me neither,” he announces and it feels like a weight of ten tons has been lifted off Stiles’ chest. “It’s about Scott. I’m a package deal. A relationship doesn’t work if the other is not… if the other thinks Scott isn’t part of this. Now, I know you’re aware,” Derek’s quick to retaliate upon Stiles put-off expression. “I just need to say this. Not saying it would feel weird.”

“I know but, Derek, I love Scott. He’s great. And you can’t think I’m completely bonkers when you trust me enough to babysit him.”

“I think you’re great with him. It’s one of the reasons why I’m falling for you,” Derek admits freely but even in the dim light of the porch lamp, Stiles can see Derek’s cheeks flushing a bit so he’s not as calm as he appears to be.

It’s good to know since Stiles is close to jumping out of his skin. When he thought the butterflies in his stomach were causing a ruckus, it’s no match for the full-body shiver he’s facing now and the blush in his face could light the entirety of North America. And apparently, his voice had a run-in with a package of sandpaper too, given how he croaks out the flushed “Yeah?”.

“Yeah,” Derek answers and one of those gentle smiles spreads across his lips.

“I’m… you know. Wow, this is even more awkward than it was in my head,” Stiles laughs sheepishly and rubs his hands over his face, heaving out a deep breath. “I’m really glad we’re… together now because it’s kind of the one thing I’ve wanted ever since the third time you’ve stepped into my place.”

“Only the third time?” Derek asks and sounds vaguely amused by it.

“Yeah. The first two times, I was busy obsessing over your freakishly amazing body and how much I’d love to kiss you.” A laugh bubbles out of Derek and Stiles nudges his knee into Derek’s leg.

“Stop making fun of me.”

“I’m not making fun of you, I’m merely appreciating you,” Derek retorts and puts his beer down onto the table before he rests his hand on Stiles’ knee, his thumb stroking over Stiles’ leg. It takes Stiles every last bit of self-command to not jump Derek right then and there. On the other hand, though, Stiles enjoys this so much it’s a bit concerning. Feeling the tension between them, nearly able to grasp it, knowing that they’ll be kissing and that it’ll happen tonight but not knowing _when_. He lets Derek take the lead, not only to see how the other man ticks but also to not be the one who needs to make all the moves.

Stiles hums in return, nodding. He’s turned his head enough to be able to face Derek completely, looking him straight in the eyes, seeing the spark of utter excitement in them. “We’re quite something, huh? Like, deciding to be boyfriends before we even kissed or anything. It’s a bit like in a Jane Austen novel. We only talk about being together, write each other devoted letters as a form of affection and the only physical touch will be us holding hands,” Stiles snorts. “Either way, it’s definitely anything but conventional.”

“Fuck conventional,” Derek counters and the look in his eyes is growing from excited to fierce, betraying the even expression he’s wearing.

“If that’s so, I’m changing my name to conventional first thing in the morning,” Stiles snickers and shoots Derek a challenging gaze.

Apparently, that was the last push Derek needed since a second after Stiles’ remark left his mouth, Derek gets up out of his chair. He envelopes Stiles’ hand with his own and pulls him to his feet, making Stiles tip forward a bit so he’s only mere centimetres away from the man opposite of him. “We don’t need conventional. We’ll do it our own way,” Derek murmurs out, face so close to Stiles’ face, he can feel his hot breath on his skin.

“Yeah,” is all Stiles can answer since his brain is mush by now. The anticipation has ruined all coherent thinking and every functioning cell left in his body. All he can think is _kiss me kiss me kiss me kiss me_ while looking at Derek, nearly going cross-eyed as Derek’s face is so close to his.

And because Stiles is nothing but direct, it takes his thoughts less than five seconds to get from his brain to Stiles’ mouth. “Kiss me,” he says and goes wide-eyed at his own courage. Or lack of sangfroid. That’s up for debate.

Derek, on the other hand, simply smiles, seemingly amused by how Stiles just surprised himself with his own words and closes the remaining distance between them until they're kissing.

They start out hesitant, lips only brushing ever so slightly, a bit as if both of them need to wrap their mind around what just happened in the recent minutes. The hesitation doesn't last, though. It's merely two minutes until Derek has Stiles crowded against one of the wooden beams, his hand cupping Stiles's jaw while his tongue goes all in. Literally.

Stiles can't say he isn't thrilled beyond compare. This kiss already is easily in the Top 3 Best Make Outs Stiles Stilinski Took Part In (not that Stiles would ever admit he actually has an Excel document for that).

It’s horribly cliché to say it’s better than everything he imagined, Stiles thinks to himself, but in some way it is because this is the _real deal_. It’s not him lying on his bed after talking to Derek on the phone for ages, imagining what it’d be like to be in a relationship with him. It’s not Stiles talking to his dad about Derek, wishing they wouldn’t be talking about _what if’s_ anymore but instead, about the two of them going over to Derek’s house for dinner and Game of Thrones because Derek invited his boyfriend and his father.

Now, it’s really happening and it’s amazing. Neither of them knows if it’ll be working or what’s ahead of them but Stiles guesses Derek’s right with what he said.

Fuck conventional, they’ll do it their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaahhh~ it's officially StilesandDerek now ♥ But that doesn't mean it's their happily ever after just yet. There's still a bumpy ride ahead of them :)  
> Thank you so much for reading. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for chapter 6 of Like Lullabies.
> 
> The beta has been done by the lovely MC. Thank you so much, Darling!
> 
> If you have any comments, questions, ideas or constructive criticism, feel free to send a message or a comment my way here or on my [Tumblr](http://possiblywonderful.tumblr.com).


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